Francis Coquelin admitted it was a ploy of Arsenal's to allow Bayern Munich to dominate possession of the ball on Tuesday night.

The Gunners withstood plenty of pressure from the visiting Germans in their Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium before scoring twice late to produce a much-needed 2-0 victory thanks to second-half goals from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil.

Arsenal were on the ropes prior to the contest having lost their opening two European fixtures and Coquelin admits it was a plan to sit back and let Bayern dictate terms before coming with a late flourish.

"We knew Bayern would have a lot of the ball, but in the recent games against the big teams we have not had as much possession and counter-attacked," said the French midfielder.

"It worked well again here and everyone defended really well and we didn't concede any goals, so I am really pleased with the performance."

Arsenal were close to opening the scoring in the first half but Theo Walcott's header was somehow kept out by a magnificent Manuel Neuer save which Coquelin says spurred the home side on.

"It is always difficult against Bayern but I thought we started well and we created a big chance with Theo in the first half but we didn't put it in the net," he added.

"The second half was always going to be tough but Olivier scored a great goal and after we felt that we could keep the heat on and after the second it was game over."