Bayer Leverkusen certainly did not want Kai Havertz to return in such a way. The 26-year-old striker was warmly welcomed when returning to the stadium, but he was the one who ruined a memorable Champions League night for the home team with an equalizer in the 89th minute for Arsenal.
The penalty was awarded after Malik Tillman fouled Noni Madueke in the penalty area. Havertz maintained his composure to defeat goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, helping Arsenal draw 1-1 before the second leg in London. This result also brought the "Gunners" closer to their goal of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the third consecutive season.
Before the match, Havertz was given a commemorative photo by Leverkusen recording memorable moments during the time he was attached to the club from a young age. One day before the match, the German striker also shared about the difficulties after recent injuries as well as the special feelings when returning to the place he had been attached to since the age of 10.
The moment of stepping onto the penalty spot in the last minute may have lasted endlessly, but Havertz still maintained his coolness to shoot into his old team's net. Since returning from a knee injury, he has scored 3 goals and had two assists in just 316 minutes of play.
Football always creates special stories. He returned here after many years of attachment and scored such an important goal. That was truly a memorable moment" - Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta shared.
However, Arsenal's overall performance still left many questions. Arteta's team controlled the ball quite monotonously and had many difficulties in penetrating Leverkusen's defense.
The Spanish coach was forced to adjust the squad continuously. Noni Madueke was brought on to replace Bukayo Saka in the 60th minute, Havertz replaced Viktor Gyokeres 14 minutes later, before Gabriel Jesus replaced Eberechi Eze to increase attacking power. Among them, Madueke was the most outstanding player and he brought the decisive penalty.
Before Havertz scored, Leverkusen deserved a victory more. After a fairly balanced first half, the home team opened the score right at the beginning of the second half from a set piece situation. From Alejandro Grimaldo's corner kick, Robert Andrich rushed in and finished accurately at the far post.
Arteta admitted after the match that he had shown the players three video clips of similar set pieces from Leverkusen, but they still could not stop the goal.
After the goal, the atmosphere on the sidelines also became tense when coach Kasper Hjulmand and Arsenal's assistant in charge of set pieces, Nico Jover, exchanged words about the tackles in the penalty area.
We just wondered if using our bodies to block opponents when there is no ball is allowed or not. But the reality is that every team does so" - Hjulmand explained after the match.
Arsenal only had three corner kicks in the whole match and almost did not create many chances from their familiar set pieces. On the coaching bench, Arteta repeatedly expressed disappointment when the team had difficulty controlling the game.
In the first 10 to 15 minutes, we did not create enough threat and did not understand how to approach their defense. But in the last 20 minutes, with changes, we played better and finally found an equalizer" - Arteta said.
Leverkusen expressed regret for the penalty at the end of the match. Hjulmand believes that the referee should wait for VAR to check before making a decision in such controversial situations.
However, Arsenal still left Germany with a favorable result. Arteta admitted that this is a reminder of the difficulty of the Champions League, especially when playing away from home.
We understand how difficult it is to win this tournament. The important thing is that now we have to finish the work in the second leg in London" - he said.
