Bayern beats 10-man Arsenal at the Emirates

A late goal from Thomas Muller helped Bayern Munich beat Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Emirates.
Ten-man Arsenal, which missed a first half penalty, looked likely to escape with just a one-goal deficit, before substitute Muller popped up two minutes from time to give Bayern a huge advantage going into the second leg.
Arsene Wenger’s men had defended well after going down to 10 men five minutes before half-time, when Wojciech Szczesny was shown a red card for a foul on Arjen Robben.
It was Bayern who began brighter on the night and they were almost ahead inside three minutes.
Toni Kroos collected the ball on the edge of the box and hit a rasping effort that was brilliantly tipped past the post by Szczesny.
The Gunners responded well to this and they had a golden chance to take the lead after nine minutes.
Jack Wilshire produced a pin point pass that was collected by Mesut Ozil, before he was fouled by Jerome Boateng inside the area and the referee pointed to the spot.
Ozil took responsibility and stepped up to hit the spot-kick, but his tame effort was easily saved by Manuel Neuer as the game remained scoreless.
Bayern upped it again after half an hour and began to take control of possession.
They went close again 10 minutes before the break when Arjen Robben played a neat one two with David Alaba inside the box before the winger’s powerful effort was excellently blocked by Per Mertsacker.
Robben was in again five minutes later when he latched onto a ball over the top, but this time he was clipped by Szczesny and the referee pointed to the spot before producing a red card for the Arsenal keeper.
Alaba stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but his effort clipped the outside of the post and went wide as the sides went in all-square at half-time.
With the extra man in the second half, Bayern continued to dominate possession after the break and they got the all-important opener after nine minutes.
Philipp Lahm made space on the edge of the penalty area before teeing up Kroos to hit a stunning strike that flew into the top corner to make it 1-0.
And the visitors almost doubled their advantage 20 minutes from time.
Robben, who was Arsenal’s chief tormentor on the night, drove at the Gunners defence before cutting inside and curling an effort that flew inches past the post.
Arsenal looked to have done enough to hold out for just a one goal defeat until Thomas Muller popped up in the dying minutes to head past Fabianski to make it 2-0 as Munich took control of the tie.
In the end, it was a bitter blow for Arsenal who will travel to Germany facing a daunting task against the reigning champions.
Elsewhere in the last 16, Atletico Madrid took a giant step towards the last eight with a hard fought 1-0 over AC Milan in the San Siro.
Diego Costa popped up with the winner five minutes from time for Diego Simone’s men as they condemned Clarence Sedorf to defeat in his first ever Champions League game as a manager.
Milan looked the more likely throughout the game as they hit the woodwork twice and went close through Mario Balotelli and Adel Taarabt, but it was Costa who pounced on a defensive error to head home and give his side the advantage heading into the second leg.