Arsenal rescued a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie thanks to a late penalty from Kai Havertz against his former club.

A largely uninspired performance from the Premier League leaders looked as though it would end in defeat after Robert Andrich put Leverkusen ahead early in the second half, but after Noni Madueke won a penalty in the closing minutes, Havertz made no mistake from the spot to earn Mikel Arteta’s men a draw to take back to the Emirates.

It was far from a classic performance from Arsenal, who only recorded two shots on target, one of which was the penalty, but they showed the resilience that has made them favourites to win the Champions League this season.

They will do battle again in north London next Tuesday, with the equaliser making life much simpler for Arsenal than it looked like it would be for large parts of this game.

Andrich earned a place in the referee’s book after just one minute and 53 seconds – the earliest yellow card in the Champions League this season – for a foul on Viktor Gyökeres, and he bodychecked the Swede again just three minutes later, leading to referee Halil Umut Meler giving the German a final warning inside the opening five minutes.

Aged 19 years and 228 days, striker Christian Kofane became the second-youngest player to start a Champions League knockout game for Leverkusen, after Havertz (17 years, 255 days) in February 2017 against Atlético Madrid. It was Kofane who had the first shot of the game, but his effort from distance was straight at David Raya.

The visitors had to wait until the 19th minute to have their first shot, and it was Gabriel Martinelli who received it on the left side of the penalty area after a slick counter-attack, but the Brazilian fired his effort against the crossbar.

It was otherwise an eventless first-half in the BayArena, with the only other notable moment when Gabriel Magalhães blocked a fierce shot from range by former Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah with his chin, leading to treatment for the Arsenal man.

It felt like a game that needed a goal to spark it to life, and that goal arrived just 45 seconds into the second half. Arsenal, so famously excellent at corners, were undone by one as Alex Grimaldo whipped an inswinger from the right to the far post, where an unmarked Andrich was there to head in past Raya.

It was the first time Arsenal had conceded a goal from a corner in the Champions League since November 2024 against Sporting CP.

Arteta withdrew Bukayo Saka for Madueke just before the hour mark, and that saw Arsenal enjoy their best period of possession and sustained pressure in the Leverkusen half, but the hosts stood strong.

Gyökeres was replaced by Havertz in the 74th to a generous reception from the home fans, but Arsenal were struggling to create anything. When Jurriën Timber headed over from a Martinelli cross in the 84th minute, it was the visitors’ first effort at goal in over 36 minutes.

Just moments later, though, Madueke ran at the Leverkusen defence down the Arsenal right and cut inside the penalty area. A panicked challenge from Malik Tillman led to the former Chelsea man going over, and the referee pointed to the spot.

Havertz stepped up to equalise, just about squeezing his penalty past Janis Blaswich down to the goalkeeper’s right.

It ended 1-1, leaving Arteta likely the happier of the two managers, but the tie remains fascinatingly poised ahead of next week’s second leg.