Rice rescues Arsenal in Munich as Saka injury overshadows Bayern draw
Matchday 3 of the Champions League delivered a thrilling draw in Munich, a fightback at Anfield and a humbling night for Manchester United in Italy. But for Arsenal, the biggest story may turn out to be the one that happened in the 10th minute.
Rice rescues Arsenal, but Saka limps off
Arsenal earned a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with Declan Rice scoring an 82nd-minute equaliser, according to ESPN. The point keeps Arteta's side unbeaten in the competition, with seven points from three games.
The night started badly. Bukayo Saka was forced off after just 10 minutes with a thigh injury. Arteta later confirmed it was a quadriceps problem and admitted it did not look good, saying the medical staff were concerned, according to Reuters and GOAL. Saka will have scans to establish the extent of the damage.
His replacement, Eberechi Eze, made an immediate impact, scoring in the 25th minute after the offside flag was overturned on review. Bayern hit back through Alphonso Davies, who finished a superb through ball from Harry Kane. Kane then won and converted a penalty on the hour to put Bayern ahead, before Rice struck late to rescue a point.
Liverpool and City win big
On Tuesday, Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 in a wild game at Anfield to make it three wins from three in the league phase. Manchester City bounced back from their home defeat to PSG by thrashing AEK Athens 5-1.
PSG, the defending champions, continued their perfect start with a 4-2 win over Barcelona.
United humbled at Como
Manchester United suffered a 4-1 defeat at Como. United manager Michael Carrick described the performance as unacceptable, and captain Bruno Fernandes criticised the side's tactics afterwards, according to Reuters. Como coach Cesc Fàbregas revealed he had told his players to slow down once they reached 4-0.
There was better news for Aston Villa, who beat Viking 3-1.
Matchday 3 results
Tuesday, October 20
- Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal
- Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens
- Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Barcelona
- Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
- Porto 0-1 PSV Eindhoven
- Sabah 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
- Fenerbahçe 2-2 Slavia Prague
Wednesday, October 21
- Bayern Munich 2-2 Arsenal
- Como 4-1 Manchester United
- Aston Villa 3-1 Viking
- Club Brugge 3-0 Lens
- Inter Milan 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
- Lille 2-4 Galatasaray
Saka the key concern
With a Premier League title race to fight, Arsenal will be anxiously awaiting the results of Saka's scans. Reuters notes that the club is already without winger Christos Tzolis, who picked up a hamstring injury on international duty.
Photo: Nazmi Amin-Tai / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0