Arsenal allow disappointment to cloud their judgement

Bayern Munich are big on drama; hence their less than affectionate nickname, FC Hollywood. Even Hollywood draws a more ambivalent line these days between goodies and baddies, and it may take repeated viewing of the video-tape by officials of European football's governing body, Uefa, to sort out who were the real villains in the fracas at the end of Tuesday's eventful 2-2 draw in the Champions' League tie at Highbury.

Bayern Munich are big on drama; hence their less than affectionate nickname, FC Hollywood. Even Hollywood draws a more ambivalent line these days between goodies and baddies, and it may take repeated viewing of the video-tape by officials of European football's governing body, Uefa, to sort out who were the real villains in the fracas at the end of Tuesday's eventful 2-2 draw in the Champions' League tie at Highbury.

It appeared to the naked eye that shirts were not the only thing being swapped in the centre circle and that Jens Jeremies was guilty of taking a swipe at Gilles Grimandi, who had confronted the Bosnian midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic. Grimandi would be in danger of heavy punishment if he was found guilty of being the aggressor; it was the Frenchman's first European game since serving a three-match suspension for striking Lazio's Diego Simeone in Rome.

Thierry Henry, with gestures towards Stefan Effenberg, and Tony Adams, making it plain whose hand he was prepared, or not prepared, to shake, also allowed their disappointment at having squandered a two-goal lead to overcome their sense of sportsmanship. At the same time, the manager, Arsÿne Wenger, was involved in an altercation with the fourth official, although his annoyance was essentially with two of his players, playing a short free-kick in the dying moments, when the ball needed to be hoisted into Bayern's penalty area.

The German champions contributed to the more legitimate drama earlier on, after shaking off their first-half lethargy and a negative approach, which had contributed to Henry and Nwankwo Kanu ending their respective barren runs without a goal. Once the Brazilian striker Giovane Elber was given some proper support, in the form of his compatriot Paulo Sergio, Adams and Martin Keown began to struggle, as they had done in the 4-1 defeat by Spartak Moscow last month. In between and after the goals by Michael Tarnat and Mehmet Scholl, Arsenal hardly made another good scoring opportunity, justifying the assertion of the visitors' vice-president, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, that "Bayern have shown for 30 years that they always come through when the pressure is on." A week ago, that pressure was heavy: five Bundesliga matches had already been lost and the team were in poor form.

Then, last Saturday, the leaders Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 2-0 in the Olympic Stadium and suddenly Bayern were only two points behind them. Now they will spend the next 10 weeks looking down on the rest of the group, with a home game against Spartak Moscow in February that should strengthen their position.

The best hope for Arsenal, who play Lyon away and then at home, is that by the time they go to Munich for the final match in March, Bayern have already qualified for the quarter-final. In the meantime, with attacking confidence restored by scoring twice for the first time since October, they must concentrate on attempting to peg back Manchester United's lead in the Premiership. Patrick Vieira remains available to them until his case for misconduct is heard and will be free to play in the home game with Newcastle on Saturday and then potentially volatile trips to Tottenham and Liverpool, during which it will be important to maintain discipline, in every sense.