Bayern outclass Arsenal
- Published: 20/02/2013 at 07:41 AM
- Online news:
Bayern Munich piled more misery on Arsene Wenger's Arsenal as they assumed control of their Champions League last-16 tie with a 3-1 win at the Emirates Wednesday morning.
Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller handed the runaway Bundesliga leaders a two-goal advantage inside the opening 21 minutes as last season's runners-up capitalised on some diabolical defending from the hosts.
The lack of marking proved infectious for Bayern as former player Lukas Podolski was gifted a free header into an empty net from a corner in the 55th minute. And as the match opened up still further, Mario Mandzukic added another to his side's tally with a rather fortuitous close-range finish to give the Bavarian giants control of the tie.
With his side having been dumped out of the FA Cup after a shock defeat to Blackburn at the weekend, it was another humbling defeat for Wenger. Arsenal now have it all to do in Munich, having departed from the competition at the last-16 stage in the past two seasons, with their faint hopes of a first trophy since 2005 in tatters.
In the second match of the morning, Joao Moutinho struck the winner as Porto secured a narrow 1-0 win over Malaga in Portugal.
The midfielder capped an impressive individual display with the only goal of the game on 56 minutes when he coolly converted Alex Sandro's low cross, despite loud claims for offside from the visiting team.
The hosts dominated for long spells but found it difficult to break down a visiting rearguard superbly marshalled by Martin Demichelis and Sergio Sanchez.
