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Arsenal have the former Bayer Leverkusen star man Kai Havertz to thank as Mikel Arteta’s side avoided defeat in the first leg of their last-16 clash with the Bundesliga club.

The Gunners came close to taking the lead inside twenty minutes after Gabriel Martinelli struck the ball against the crossbar. That was by far the best chance of the first half with very little else testing either David Raya or Janis Blaswich.

No doubt 19-year-old Christian Kofane is a player to look out for in the future, he was causing two of the world’s best centre-halves plenty of problems. Yet it was the captain Robert Andrich whose header within minutes of the second half starting that shocked the favourites.

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Noni Madueke would win the Gunners a very late penalty to secure an important score draw in Germany to take back to North London. Kai Havertz stepping up against his former side to crush their hopes of a famous win.

Here is how football.london rated the performances of the Arsenal players involved:

David Raya – Produced a fantastic save to stop Martin Terrier heading in but the resulting corner gave him no chance from Andrich’s header. 6

Jurrien Timber – Played an excellent ball into the box that would lead to Martinelli hitting the crossbar. Pushed further and further up the pitch after the Gunners went down a goal. Had a massive chance at the end as Martinelli’s cross found the Dutchman who headed over. 6

William Saliba – Did well to chase back and stop Christian Kofane from taking a free shot at goal just before the half-time whistle. But made some strange decisions in the second half. 6

Gabriel – Was certainly given a tough test by Kofane, who equalled him several times physically, which is no easy feat. 6

Piero Hincapie – After Gabriel had been put under some pressure by Christian Kofane, the Ecuadorian spotted the danger and tracked back to intercept strongly. It was the most the Ecuadorian had inverted from that left hand side. 7

Martin Zubimendi – As has been the case for a little while, the number six position, filled at present by Zubimendi, seems a little needless, almost, with Arsenal perhaps lacking something a bit more penetrative instead in their midfield setup. 4

Declan Rice – Was getting frustrated in the first half with the Leverkusen player’s going down so easily as Arsenal tried to get a foothold. In the second half, you could see the eagerness to be involved, and the frustration at the lack of movement around him. 6

Eberechi Eze – Lovely little dummy in the build-up to the Martinelli chance and had a positive first half. But he faded during the second period with the Gunners needing to get their creative players more involved. 5

Bukayo Saka – Saw an early free-kick deflected wide of the Bayer Leverkusen left post. Beyond this, however, the Arsenal captain had very little say on the game, was well beaten, tackled and blocked throughout, and it was perhaps little surprise to see him taken off. 4

Viktor Gyokeres – Good early signs from the Swede, who was taking the ball into feet well and turning toward goal. A couple of poor passes, however, saw momentum lost in patches before the break. And he was almost invisible for the second half. 5

Gabriel Martinelli – Had a great chance to score but saw his left-footed strike smash against the crossbar. Then became incredibly frustrating to watch, persistently driving backwards instead of making the vital moves into dangerous areas. 5

Noni Madueke – Replaced a rather ineffective Bukayo Saka on the hour mark. Changed the game and added plenty more threat to the right, eventually winning the penalty that secured a valuable draw. 8

Kai Havertz – Came on to score the penalty against his former club, slotting low past Blaswich. 7

Gabriel Jesus – Did quite literally nothing after coming on. 3