Arsenal found a late equaliser at the BayArena to take a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen.
Mikel Arteta’s side had a 55% share of the ball in Germany, but only managed six shots. They created two big chances and generated 1.65 Expected Goals.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen managed to take 10 shots in the game from share of the ball, creating one big chance. But they only generated 0.88 xG in the match.
Leverkusen looked well worth the 1-0 win approaching the back end of the game, but Arteta’s “finishers” came in and rescued the game for him. It leaves Arsenal in a decent position heading back to the Emirates next week.
In this article, we’ll cover
Leverkusen’s wing-backs
Kasper Hjulmand’s side set up in their usual 3-4-2-1 shape, allowing them to manipulate Arsenal’s 4-2-4 out of possession approach.
Leverkusen’s wing-backs were key to this strategy. Ernest Poku would push high and wide on the right to pin Piero Hincapie, while Alejandro Grimaldo would drop low to receive the ball as the spare man, making it tough for Jurrien Timber to follow him.
Bukayo Saka’s role in the Arsenal front press was to try and screen access to Grimaldo, while staying in good distance to pressure Edmond Tapsoba if he got on the ball.
Grimaldo created three chances and was key to Leverkusen’s build up strategy, looking to get on the ball and create 2v1 situations down Arsenal’s right flank with Ibrahim Maza.
To Arsenal’s credit, the players in half and half positions, such as Timber, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and even Saka worked extremely hard to recover once the press collapsed. It mitigated a lot of the threat from these areas.
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Set-piece battle
Once again, a set-piece provided the opening goal in an Arsenal game. But this one was not scored by the Gunners.
Arsenal didn’t have a single corner in the first half, while Leverkusen only had one themselves. It leading to a fairly low xG half, as the two teams generated 0.7 xG between them.
However, Leverkusen opened the scoring early in the second half, as Robert Andrich arrived at the back post to head it home unopposed.
Maza provided the block on Eberechi Eze who was initially marking Andrich, leaving a clear run at the ball for an easy finish at the back post from an inswinging corner provided by Grimaldo.
Arsenal were able to muster up three corners of their own in the second half. But they were unable to create anything of note from those chances.
Saka struggles
Saka had a game to forget. The England international and Arsenal captain on the night was hooked after just 60 minutes by Arteta.
The 24-year-old was unable to have his print on the game, being aggressively pressured by one of Grimaldo or Tapsoba whenever he received the ball facing his own goal.
Saka completed just one of his three take-on attempts in the game, being dispossessed 14 times. He also only managing a single shot worth 0.02 xG.
Timber was often used in an advanced area to give Saka those 1v1 isolations out wide, which he struggled to make the most of on this occasion.
Arteta’s “finishers” save the day
Noni Madueke was the man to replace Saka on the hour-mark, and he made an impact. He completed his only attempted take-on and, of course, won the late penalty.
Another Arsenal substitute, Kai Havertz, converted from the spot, joining the action after 74 minutes to face his old side for the first time since leaving in 2020.
Arteta has named his substitutes “finishers” at times this season. It’s a term used to add value to their role coming from the bench and create a culture of high performance.
The Gunners were able to fight back on this occasion. But Arteta will be hoping for a much better all round performance next week at the Emirates. Leverkusen will come away with some confidence after their performance in the first leg of the tie.