Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has apologised to the club’s supporters after squandering a penalty in Wednesday’s 2-0 loss at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The German playmaker had an opportunity to put Arsenal ahead in the last 16 first-leg match with an early penalty, but his tame spot-kick was saved by international team-mate Manuel Neuer.
After Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had been sent off, Bayern went on to prevail through second-half goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller, leaving the reigning champions in a commanding position ahead of the second leg on March 11.
“The next morning doesn’t feel better either,” Ozil wrote on his official Facebook page. “Sorry guys – it wasn’t planned that way. Outnumbered it was really hard to win against this team.”
Ozil, a club-record £42.5 million ($70.7 million, 51.6 million euros) signing from Real Madrid last year, was roundly criticised in the British media following a lacklustre display in the game.