[新聞] Arsenal 1-0 Villarreal
Arsenal ensured a memorable European send-off for Highbury as they edged
towards the Champions League final with 1-0 win over Villarreal.
Kolo Toure's first goal of the season just before half-time proved enough to
give the Gunners a slender lead to take to Spain for the second leg next week,
when they will seek to secure a place in the final of Europe's elite club
competition for the first time in their history.
Having already seen off the challenge of Real Madrid and Serie A leaders
Juventus, it was another solid display from Arsene Wenger's men, watched by a
crowd of 35,438 as the Gunners come towards the end of their 93-year stay on
Avenell Road.
However, with the amount of possession they enjoyed tonight as the Spaniards
seemed content to sit back and look for the counter-attack, the Highbury
faithful will know `1-0 to the Arsenal' should have been more.
With Jose Antonio Reyes suspended, Wenger had opted for a five-man midfield,
Gilberto tucking in front of the defence.
And it was a positive start from the home side.
Villarreal's Cesar Arzo was cautioned for hacking down Mathieu Flamini as the
stand-in Arsenal left-back attempted to skip clear on the flank.
The resulting free-kick was whipped into the six-yard box, and when the ball
broke loose, Toure stabbed a low shot just wide.
On 10 minutes, a deep corner from the right found its way through to Philippe
Senderos at the back post - but the unmarked young Swiss centre-half powered
his header well over.
Captain Thierry Henry had the ball in the net after latching onto Robert
Pires' slide-rule pass - only to see his effort ruled out for offside, which
on replay looked to be the wrong call from the Austrian assistant referee.
The game was then brought to a halt when a rogue squirrel had to be ushered
off the pitch, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann shepherding it to the
perimeter and off out of the ground.
With 20 minutes gone, Freddie Ljungberg got into the left of the area, but
the angle was too great and his strike hit the side-netting.
Villarreal then created their first meaningful effort when Riquelme's 25-yard
free-kick tested Lehmann but was too central and the German keeper got his
body behind the ball.
The match then became somewhat scrappy as neither side really got a foothold
in midfield.
With 12 minutes to go to half-time, Cesar Arzo made a saving tackle to deny
Pires as the veteran Frenchman almost got on the end of Fabregas' flick
before Flamini's shot from a ricochet in the six-yard box was blocked.
There was a moment of panic at the back for Arsenal as Lehmann and then Toure
both lost their footing, which allowed Diego Forlan in on the left.
His cut-back was palmed away by the German keeper, and Emmanuel Eboue cleared.
Arsenal then upped the tempo as the interval approached.
Following a corner from the left which was only half cleared, Henry slipped
in Aleksander Hleb.
The Belorussian carried the ball to the goalline before cutting it back
across the six-yard box, where Toure was on hand to stab the home side ahead
on 40 minutes.
Lehmann was called into action again when Riquelme's long-range free-kick
powered towards goal, the German well behind the ball to punch clear.
Riquelme went into the referee's notebook for dissent after Gilberto's heavy
tackle from behind on striker Jose Mari went unpunished when it probably
should have been a penalty for the visitors.
At the start of the second half, a flowing move down the left ended with
Gilberto being teed up on the edge of the penalty area, but the Brazilian's
strike flew over the crossbar.
Ljungberg went down under a challenge from Javi Venta in the area, but
referee Konrad Plautz was unmoved and waved play on.
At the other end, Toure was on hand to scramble the ball away after a corner
had been flicked on by Juan Pablo Sorin.
On the hour, Eboue was put clear down the right, and his centre was met by a
header from Henry, which lacked pace and Cesar Arzo cleared off the line.
Alessio Tacchinardi was then cautioned for a needless tackle from behind on
Helb - and will miss the second leg as a result.
Another poor offside decision then halted Pires' run down the right from
Eboue's well-timed pass.
In a rare moment of action at the other end, Marcos Senna made space for
himself around 25 yards out, but his low strike was well held by Lehmann down
to the left.
The Gunners made a double substitution with 10 minutes to go when Dennis
Bergkamp replaced Hleb and Robin van Persie came on for Ljungberg.
Villarreal skipper Quique Alvarez was lucky to escape with only a yellow card
after hauling down Henry just on the edge of the area after Arsenal had
soaked up some late pressure.
The home side, though, were good value for a victory which could have been by
a greater margin.
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