MUNICH – Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said the club was “concerned” about the severity of an injury to winger Bakayo Saka after a pulsating 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich on Oct 21.

Saka, Arsenal’s joint top goalscorer this season alongside Victor Gyokeres, went off early after falling to the turf grabbing his thigh and was replaced by Eberechi Eze.

Eze scored Arsenal’s opener and Declan Rice scored late to clinch a draw for last season’s runners-up after an Alphonso Davies goal and a Harry Kane penalty for the hosts.

Arteta said Saka’s injury was as yet unclear, but told reporters the club’s medical staff were worried.

“They are a bit concerned about Saka. When a player has to come off with sharp pain, it is never good news. We have to wait and see,” Arteta said.

The coach spoke glowingly of his side’s efforts, while praising those of the home side.

“Bayern batter every team, so I really value what the boys did tonight,” he said.

“That’s one of the highest levels we have played... The level of opposition and our level as well. It was two teams that wanted to attack and play.”

Rice was thrilled with his late goal.

“I’m so happy. When you play against teams like Bayern that are man-to-man all over the pitch, you have to apply certain principles,” Rice told TNT.

“I just kept running, lost my marker and I was in on goal to score.”

The Gunners have seven points from three games in the league phase, two more than Bayern.

Bayern were without in-form winger Michael Olise, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich and midfielder Jamal Musiala. Coach Vincent Kompany had been a doubt due to illness but took his place in the dugout.

“We looked dangerous, we got the goal and we had a moment there where we could have killed off the game,” Kane told DAZN.

“Probably a draw was a fair result overall... There’s a lot of games and we’ve got players with injuries, players missing tonight, so we take the point and move on.”

Despite the absences, the England captain ensured Bayern posed a consistent threat against Arsenal’s miserly defence with another excellent performance ahead of next week’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Kane’s hometown of London.

Kane’s second-half penalty, his 16th goal in 23 matches against Arsenal, extended his scoring streak to 10 straight Champions League games. Kane is one shy of the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored in 11 consecutive matches for Real Madrid.

“I had an amazing season last year, I’m extremely proud of it. The Ballon d’Or would be amazing to win, but there’s nothing I can do, the voting closed a long time ago, I have to wait for the night and see what happens,” Kane said of the award. AFP