"The visitors, who had topped the league phase having won all eight games, were trailing to Robert Andrich's goal -- from a corner, of all things -- with a minute of normal time remaining. But Havertz kept his nerve after fellow substitute Noni Madueke was brought down in the area to snatch a draw and leave Arsenal as favourites to reach a third consecutive quarterfinal."
"Arsenal were missing the creative spark of injured captain Martin Ødegaard and it showed, especially around the edge of the Leverkusen penalty area. But they almost took a 20th-minute lead with a lovely move when Eberechi Eze let the ball run across him. Gyökeres laid it off to Gabriel Martinelli, who took a touch before crashing his left-footed shot against the crossbar."
Arsenal drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen in their Champions League last-16 first leg despite being league phase leaders with eight consecutive wins. Robert Andrich's corner-kick goal gave Leverkusen the lead with one minute remaining in normal time. Kai Havertz, introduced as a substitute, converted a penalty after Noni Madueke was fouled in the area to secure the equalizer. Arsenal dominated possession but lacked creativity without injured captain Martin Ødegaard. Gabriel Martinelli hit the crossbar early, while Leverkusen's Christian Kofane posed occasional threats. The draw leaves Arsenal well-positioned to reach the quarterfinals in their third consecutive appearance.
Read at ESPN
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