By ANTONY KASTRINAKIS
SCHALKE had Klaas, Arsenal had luck. Lots of it.
Gunners survived a second-half onslaught before Theo Walcott had the chance to steal an unlikely three points in the final seconds but was denied by keeper Lars Unnerstall.
Dutch superstar Klaas-Jan Huntelaar sparked the Germans’ fightback after Walcott and Olivier Giroud had given Arsene Wenger’s men a shock two-goal lead.
Arsene Wenger wanted a performance and a result. Well, one out of two ain’t bad.
One team played football last night. It was not Arsenal.
At least they flew home with a priceless point and live to fight on in the battle to reach the last 16.
But Wenger may still need to get a result against Olympiakos when he goes to Greece for their final Group B game on December 4.
Arsenal simply had no answer as Schalke trio Huntelaar, Lewis Holtby and Jefferson Farfan ran rings around them.
The Gunners’ guts helped them hang on for the draw that gives them real hope of snatching second place in the group.
But finishing top is no longer in their hands and they simply must beat Montpellier at home in a fortnight.
Schalke fired warning shots right from the off as Atsuto Uchida’s cross was just too high for Huntelaar and Holtby.
Then Vito Mannone had to get down well to save after Dutch star Afellay left Bacary Sagna chasing his shadow.
Arsenal were simply not in the game and Huntelaar was giving Laurent Koscielny nightmares with his movement.
All the intricate passing came from Schalke. Arsenal just soaked it up.
The visitors’ first effort on target — albeit a token one — came when Giroud’s backward header from Vermaelen’s throw-in fell tamely to keeper Unnerstall with 17 minutes gone.
Yet, just a minute later, the 2,100 travelling Gooners in the Veltins Arena were going bonkers.
Giroud latched on to Roman Neustadter’s back-header and raced clear only to fluff his lines in front of goal.
The ball still fell nicely for Walcott, who tapped it home and, amazingly, Arsenal were in front.
It could quickly have been 2-0 as Santi Cazorla sent Lukas Podolski racing down the left but the German’s cross flew just over Walcott at the far post.
But the disappointment did not last long as Giroud dived to get on the end of Podolski’s cross and headed home.
The Germans, roared on by their fanatical supporters, set about turning things around.
Per Mertesacker cleared a Farfan cross away from the dangerous Huntelaar. And Farfan also let rip a ferocious shot which flew just a whisker over the Arsenal bar.
Wenger’s side looked like holding out until half-time until Cazorla’s blunder let the Germans in with the last kick of the first half.
The Spaniard slipped and Holtby split Arsenal’s defence with a simple through ball for Huntelaar to score.
Wenger berated the fourth official but, really, Arsenal only had themselves to blame.
Schalke should have been level soon after the restart when Jermaine Jones put Huntelaar through but Mannone pulled off a heroic save.
The decibel level inside the 61,000-seat stadium rose even higher as the home crowd sensed Arsenal were there for the taking.
Mikel Arteta dived at full stretch to cut off Afellay’s cross and deny Holtby the chance to score. And Italian ref Nicola Rizzoli let Mertesacker escape with what looked like handball in the box.
What Arsenal needed was a cool head to help them weather the storm. But Schalke sub Marco Hoger fired against the post as the pressure continued to mount.
Ref Rizzoli infuriated Gunners when, as Podolski was through, he stopped play because Hoger was down injured. Podolski slammed the ball angrily into the advertising hoardings and was booked.
Mannone then saved Holtby’s piledriver and Huntelaar just failed to get the rebound as Schalke turned the screw again.
And, with 25 minutes left, Arsenal were hanging by their fingernails as Afellay’s drive flew straight at keeper Mannone.
But two minutes later, Farfan finally gave Schalke the equaliser they deserved when he was left un- marked at the far post and his goal-bound shot went in off Vermaelen.
Podolski did set up Cazorla but the Spaniard’s curling shot was miles over the bar.
And then came Walcott’s last-minute chance.
The England star was left clear through after a mistake by Matip. But Unnerstall stuck out a leg to deny Walcott.
A goal would have been far too harsh for Schalke. But Arsenal still have it all to do.
