Wednesday 21 October 2015 11:52, UK
Petr Cech put in an "enormous" performance in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Bayern Munich, according to Charlie Nicholas.
However, that only told half the story as the Arsenal goalkeeper kept his team in the game at 0-0 with a string of fine saves.
The pick of his stops came just before Giroud's opener when Robert Lewandowski broke free down the right hand side of the box but his shot was deflected over the crossbar by Arsenal's star man.
David Ospina had been chosen to play ahead of Cech against Olympiakos in the 3-2 defeat last month, a decision that Arsene Wenger received plenty of criticism for.
Nicholas said: "He played him tonight and he's made four or five outstanding saves, all when the games was 0-0. It was enormous.
"Arsene Wenger won't admit it but Cech gives so much reassurance to everyone when he's making save after save. Arsenal can make mistakes and he'll still keep them in the game. That's what he did, and they ended up winning 2-0."
Although he singled out Cech for individual praise, Nicholas was impressed with the way Arsenal's defensive shape stifled Bayern, who had won 11 games on the bounce coming into this game.
He said: "Bayern probably had four times as many passes and four times as many chances, but Arsenal had the better chances. It was unusual for Arsenal, although they did it at Man City last season. You wonder why sometimes they can't put a solid defensive display and get the balance right more often. They were superb tonight."
