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Reyes started left-side midfield and if ever there was a match where he could have proved his worth it was this one, unfortunately he fell well short of most fans expectations on this occasion as did Freddie, Ashley and Dennis. That's not to say they were not trying their best, just that their best didn't materialise. I thought it unreasonable that Clichy, who for me has been our most consistent performer of late, didn't get so much as a cameo appearance on the night. Like most other Gooners I was expecting to see Bayern play in their red and white instead they turned out in their black undertakers outfits, quite appropriate really.
Given that Italy's, and probably the world’s, top referee missed an obvious and crucial foul on Barca's keeper the night before it can be no real surprise when a far lesser referee, namely Massimo De Santis, should prove far more inept. He hadn't a clue what to give when there was a challenge in the air and gave the decisions on a seemingly random basis (both ways). He whistled for at least two decisions that he could not possibly have seen, one such being a handball by Reyes. He was suckered by diving; missed loads of boots left in late and was giving numerous decisions where he was about a million miles away from the play. How did Guerrero not get booked and why did it take Ballack so long to get booked? That said I don't believe that either his or his assistants’ poor performances ultimately effected the result. In European games we should by now have learnt to deal with continental interpretations of the rules no matter how ludicrous they may appear. The fact that we get pulled up for rash upfront tackles while opponents get away with sly off the ball blocks is our own fault. If we really want to succeed in Europe the cynical tackle or grappling with a keeper to prevent a save are what is required. The unseen foul is all-important in Europe along with the ability of far more than five of our team being capable of defending.
One of the many things that pisses me off with referees is when they ignore the simple stuff. Why for example was Guerrero allowed to be standing 4 yards inside our half when we kicked off? The first free kick was given for a tackle by Lauren with the referee a pitiful 40 yards away from play.
There was spasmodic great play by Pat who tried his best to lead by example but he seemed alone in attempting to thread a killer ball, not the easiest thing to do when the three players in front of him were marked and covered by about seven or so opponents. The stop-start play and crap decisions had started early in the half as had Munich's tactics which were for a large part more like Wimbledon than Wimbledon with tedious up-and-unders unworthy of the Champions League. This may have been good practice for our upcoming F A Cup-tie but we needed the ball on the ground. Henry had little or no service before half time and it was the German side who made a lot of the running. My notes tell me that there were loads of fouls, mistakes, clearances, free kicks and off the ball incidents. My memory tells me that little of note happened and that picking out the highlights would have been seriously difficult for any TV editor. After 15 minutes neither side had yet carved out a decent move. Dennis was booked for a foul on Lucio and Reyes retaliated by getting Demichelis booked. One serious attack of note saw a game of head tennis followed by a long low shot from Pat that was wide. Fouls were frequently given the wrong way as when Henry jumped for a header and offsides were not spotted. The match itself was bitty and frustrating so essentially Bayern were doing their job well.
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We opened the second half with some much-improved passing, some better moves and a more positive attitude and Flamini got forward to win our first corner of the match. Bergkamp almost found Henry with an almost killer ball. We pressed and won more corners but as usual at least one of these failed to clear the first defender. There was some great juggling by Vieira in their box before a shot from an angle on our left was drilled not to far away from the far post. Guerrero carried on fouling Senderos. A foul on Lauren saw play worked well and across the pitch to Cole, but his shot was poor.
Deisler was late on Freddie before Salihamidzic was carded for a trip on Senderos who was coping supremely well and looked the senior partner alongside Kolo. A free kick in was cleared as far as Reyes but he fumbled it and was forced to chase all the way back to concede a corner. Two corners followed in quick succession, the second saw a clear header go over our bar.
A double substitution with twenty-seven minutes to play, early by Wenger standards saw Reyes and Flamini, who had worked his rocks off, replaced by more craft in the form of Fabregas and Pires. Cesc did well while Rob was pretty anonymous. Senderos to Cole who hit a long ball to Henry who controlled a high ball with his right foot enabling him to crash home a shot with his left. Pure brilliance and 1-0 to the Arsenal with twenty-four minutes left on the clock. Henry's goal tonight was world class and worthy of one, which if my calculations are correct brings his tally level with the great Cliff Bastin.
Kolo got a yellow card for a foul on Pizarro while Ballack got a well overdue card for what appeared to be mouthing off. More stop-start play and a foul a minute stuff followed… Bizarre decisions continued as when Kolo clearly beat Pizarro to the ball and yet conceded an inexplicable free kick. Ze Roberto replaced Deisler and Munich pressed us back for a while. Senderos continued to head clear before a rocket from Ballack was tipped over by Jens. Cesc to Bergkamp with a killer ball that a younger Dennis might have reached. A saving tackle by Lauren on Ze Roberto.
A goal, four bookings, six substitutions, a goal, injuries and assorted time wasting should have provided more than the three minutes added time. This lasted exactly three minutes despite two of them been time wasted, such was the quality of the ref. Another weird free kick against Guerrero. A Kolo charge forward before Van Persie replaced Freddie who’d not set the world on fire but had worked hard off the ball. Senderos won a header while his opponent backed in but Munich won the free kick. Lizarazu was booked for a trip on Bergkamp who was breaking away. Pires and Van Persie almost got Cole in. Guerrero had one final foul on Senderos before being replaced by Linke. Munich were pressed back, we were winning free kicks and they were looking to hit us on the break. Senderos made one majot mistake with a poor back-pass, which I put down to tiredness, fortunately Lehamnn saved brilliantly.
We went closest to a second when Bergkamp fired a shot that went through everyone, one lucky deflection would have seen us in the next round but we hadn’t really done enough over two legs to deserve it. In added time Cesc got booked for a dive by Ballack seconds after he’d grabbed hold of Cesc to win the ball. De Santis with his usual positional sense booked Cesc from 40 yards away. So once again our European quest petered out.
All credit to The Arsenal for giving us Champions League football every season, and I for one am very grateful, but it would be so much better if we could be serious contenders. Maybe next season.