Villarreal vs Arsenal, 2008/09 UEFA Champions League, Quarter-finals

· 1st Leg

Villarreal

10': Marcos Senna

FT
1 - 1
1st Leg

Arsenal

66': Emmanuel Adebayor

About

Villarreal are hosting Arsenal at Estadio De La Cerámica, , Spain, starting on . The match is a part of the UEFA Champions League.

Match Timeline

0': Arsenal have opted for a lone striker in Adebayor but he scored two goals at the weekend and Nasri and Walcott should offer support from the flanks.
0': Villarreal have lost goalscoring midfielder Carzola for the rest of the season, but on the plus side Spain international Senna returns from injury to boost the midfield.
0': Former Gunner Pires is on the bench but will be hoping to play a part against his old club.
0': A Semi-final against either Man United or Porto await the winner of this one.
1': Arsenal get the game under way, wearing their famous red and white kit, kicking form left to right. Villarreal don their famous yellow.
2': Llorente is quickly into the action but his near post effort is blocked by Toure.
3': Walcott is already using his pace to test Angel. He looks like an effective outlet for the Gunners.
3': Almunia races out of his area and collides with Rossi. He looks injured and will get some treatment. It was a daft decision by the keeper.
4': From a corner Capdevila pokes the ball at goal through a crowd of players. Somehow Almunia and Clichy stop it on the line. He should have scored there.
5': Manchester United have gone a goal down to Porto in tonight's other match.
6': Adebayor holds up the ball for the Gunners. Fabregas flicks a pass out to the right for Walcott, who mis-hits his cross.
7': Word from the bench is that Almunia is okay to continue.
8': Great tackle on Fabregas by Ibagaza. Senna looks up and picks out Llorente but Gallas does well to force him a way from goal.
9': Senna picks up the ball 30-yards out. The crowd urge him to shoot. He does. And his long-range effort curls past Almunia. GOAL!!!
10': What a strike that was! Senna has a reputation for long-range goals and Arsenal were too slow to close him down.
11': Arsenal are really up against it now as Villarreal have never lost a Champions League match at home.
12': Great pass by Sagna finds Walcott down the right and the forward wins a corner. The delivery is over hit and the Spanish side clear.
13': Yet again Arsenal look for Walcott. This time he provides a good cross that results in a corner... but it is another poor one by the Gunners.
14': Rossi lingers on the edge of the box and there is some panic in the Arsenal ranks because Almunia looks injured again.
15': Eguren is down injured after a tackle by Song. After looking at the TV replay it looks like a fair challenge.
16': Walcott contorts his body to make a great tackle and launch Fabregas on the attack. The Spaniard sets up Nasri for a shot but Lopez is equal to the effort.
17': Gallas heads at goal, forcing another good save from Lopez, but the flag is up for offside.
18': Wayne Rooney has scored for Man United to make it 1-1 with Porto.
19': Arsenal have won a string of corners now but have fialed to put in a good delivery on each occassion.
20': Sagna falls over for the umpteenth time and handles the ball to stop it going past him. No yellow card for deliberate handball though.
21': Fabregas almost threads a pass through to Walcott but Godin makes a block. Villarreal don't make the most of the resulting counter-attack.
22': Adebayor and Senna indulge in a bit of greco-roman wrestling. Villarreal get the freekick.
23': The Gunners are hassling and hurrying Villarreal when they have possession and the Spanish team can't seem to get the ball forward anymore.
25': It looks like Almunia will have to come off after all and Fabianski replaces him.
26': Fabianski comes on for his 19th game for Arsenal. He will need to shake off any nerves quickly because Villarreal are sure to test him out as soon as they can.
28': Villarreal ping the ball up the pitch. Senna sets his sights and shoots, but Fabianski does what Almunia couldn't and saves. The keeper is up quickly to block a second effort at his near post.
29': Well he was tested and came through it with star billing. Villarreal have discovered that Fabianski is no weak link.
30': It's all a bit scrappy now.
31': Adebayor chases a header back by Godin and gets to it. The striker picks out Nasri, who puts his cross straight into the hands of Lopez.
32': Walcott and Toure combine down the right. Toure smashes in a low cross but Adebayor can't make contact and Lopez collects.
35': Cani wins a cheap freekick from Song.
36': Adebayor and Sagna raid the right flank yet again for the Gunners. Sagna cross loops up off the leg of Capdevila and Lopez rushes off his line catch the ball.
37': Rossi drives at the centre of the Arsenal defence. Song brings him down right on the edge of the box and Rossi falls into Gallas. The defender looks in a bad way and the stretcher has been called for...
38': ... In the midst of all this Song is booked and Villarreal have a freekick. Gallas is stretchered off and Arsenal only have ten-men at the moment.
39': Ibagaza takes the freekick (remember that) but hits his shot right inot the wall. A poor effort that by the midfielder.
40': Amazingly Gallas is limping back on. With five minutes until half-time he is struggling on.
41': Villarreal sense the injury and Rossi runs straight at Gallas. The striker sets up Cani for a shot but his effort goes wide.
42': That has made up Wenger's mind about Gallas and he takes him off the pitch. On comes Djourou to replace him at centre-back.
43': Walcott loses the ball to Capdevila and puts his team in the plop.. but they escape unscathed.
44': Adebayor leads with his elbow and catches Godin in the face. The Arsenal striker gets booked.
45': Glichy powers forward and is caught as he passes the ball to Adebayor. The refs blows for a freekick within shooting distance...
45': ...Fabregas takes a quick freekick and scores. However, the ref was not ready and has booked Fabregas. Toure takes it this time and smashes a shot into the wall.
45': The ref blows for half-time.
45': Villarreal get the second-half underway.
46': Just casting an eye over the teams it looks like the home side have made a chnage. Fernandez has replaced Cani.
47': Arsenal made two enforced changes in the first-half of course. Gallas and Almunia off, Djourou and Fabianski on.
48': Glichy plays a great pass down the line for Adebayor but the flag goes up for offside. Looks like the Gunners might probe the left flank in this half.
49': Fabragas collects a back-heel from Denilson but the midfielder scuffs his shot and it trickles into the Villarreal box.
50': Denilson, who has come into the game more in these early moments of the second-half, scoops a pass over the defence to Adebayor, who is once again caught offside.
51': Fabregas hangs out a leg and fouls Capdevila. Plays goes on for now but he has already been booked and could be in trouble when the game stops.
52': The ref calls Fabregas over, amid Villarreal players waving imaginary cards, but gets away with a stern word.
53': Fabregas seems to be involved in everything now and a few objects are thrown at him as he goes over to take a corner. the Spanish club could be in trouble with UEFA over that.
56': Missed a few minutes with a technical issue there but you didn't miss any action.
57': Walcott twists and turns to find space on the right but he is surrounded by three players and is going nowhere.
58': Clichy fouls Fernandez and the Villarreal players are again appealing for a card to be shown. It was not a yellow card offense and the ref agrees.
59': Rossi races at the Arsenal defence. But the red shirts are flooding back and the danger has past.
60': Senna sets himself for another long-range special. His shot is deflected and Fabianski stands wrong-footed as the ball goes wide of the far post.
61': Walcott gets some space on the edge of the area and lofts a pass into the box for Adebayor. The striker gets his head to the ball but can't generate enough power to trouble Lopez.
62': Arsenal are camped on the edge of the Villarreal area but can't find a way through to goal.
63': The Gunners have upped their game.
64': Adebayor collects a pass on the run and flicks the ball back to Nasri, who for some reason decides not to shoot and plays a bad pass to Walcott.
65': Fabregas chips a pass into the box from deep. Adebayor controls it on the chest and hits an overhead shot into the back of the net. GOAL!!!
66': What a great strike that was! Arsenal get the reward their attacking play deserved.
67': Walcott launches another attack for Arsenal. He is one on one with Capdevila but loses his footing and the defender clears the danger.
68': Their is only one team in it now. Nasri shifts the ball to his right foot, sends the defender Rodriguez the wrong way and fires a shot wide of Lopez's goal.
69': Pellegrini has seen enough and makes a change. Off goes Llorente and on comes former Gunner Robert Pires.
70': Pires is cheered by both sets of fans; but can he make the difference for Villarreal?
71': Eguren flicks Fabregas' cross behind for a corner.
72': The corner drops for Nasri on the edge of the area but the Frenchman snatches at his shot and it goes well wide.
73': The game is being played in Villarreal's half and they can't seem to get out.
74': When the ball does get into the Arsenal box there is a moment of panic between Fabianski and Djourou but the goalkeeper takes control of the situation and boots the ball clear.
75': Adebayor looks tired now. He has ran his socks off as the lone striker for Arsenal tonight.
76': Walcott is still full of running and rampages down the right flank. He cuts inside and shoots over the bar.
77': Fernadez prepares to cross but Djourou slides in from about ten yards away to make a perfectly timed challenge. Great defensive work.
78': Seems like Wenger disagrees with my earlier assessment and Adebayor is going to stay on as Eboue comes on to replace Walcott.
79': Rossi is still posing a threat, now with Pires alongside him, and his cross is bundled behind for a corner.
80': The corner eventually drops to Senna on the edge of the box and his powerful shot is inches away from giving Villarreal the lead.
81': Senna plays a clever ball through the Arsenal defence for Fernandez, who can't pick out a team-mate with his cut-back and Arsenal clear.
82': Carlos Tevez has given Manchester United a 2-1 lead against Porto.
83': Back in Spain Villarreal have regrouped and are taking the fight to Arsenal.
84': Pires plays the ball up to Rossi who kicks Toure in the head as he attempts to bring the ball down. He apologises for the accident.
85': Porto have snatched an equalizer. It's now 2-2 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
86': Clichy races up the left flank but he forces a pass to the strikes and Capdevila has possession for Villarreal.
87': Senna humps the ball into the box and Fabianski collects through a crowd of people.
88': This came is starting to draw to a close. It has all got a bit scrappy.
89': Eboue injects a bit of pace into the Arsenal's attack and goes past Eguren to win a corner.
90': The Gunners are cautious from the corner and take it short. They must be happy with the draw.
90': The final whistle goes and Arsenal have got a good result here in Spain.
91': Wenger's side have a draw and an away goal to take back to the Emirates and would probably have settled for that at the start of play.

Statistics

ARS		VIL
15	Fouls	10
4	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
5	Offsides	0
11	Corner Kicks	8
2	Saves	2
46.5	Possession	53.5
12	SHOTS	13
3	ON GOAL	3
0.3	On Target %	0.2
0	Penalty Goals	0
0	Penalty Kicks Taken	0
338	Accurate Passes	377
417	Passes	480
0.8	Pass Completion %	0.8
6	Accurate Crosses	3
37	Crosses	18
0.2	Cross %	0.2
45	Long Balls	50
21	Accurate Long Balls	30
0.5	Long Balls %	0.6
2	Blocked Shots	4
13	Effective Tackles	22
18	Tackles	24
0.7	Tackle %	0.9
0	Interceptions	0
17	Effective Clearances	15
34	Clearances	29

Game Information

Competition: UEFA Champions League

Venue: Estadio De La Cerámica
Location: , Spain
Attendance: 25,000

Line-Ups

Villarreal

No.	Name
13	Diego López (GK)
4	Diego Godín
2	Gonzalo Rodríguez
5	Joan Capdevila
18	Ángel López
6	Sebastián Eguren
19	Marcos Senna
11	Ariel Ibagaza
10	Cani
16	Joseba Llorente
22	Giuseppe Rossi

Villarreal Substitutes:

Javi Venta, Sebastian Viera, Kahveci Nihat, Matías Fernández, Guillermo Franco, Fabricio Fuentes, Robert Pires.

Arsenal

No.	Name
1	Manuel Almunia (GK)
10	William Gallas
5	Kolo Touré
22	Gaël Clichy
3	Bacary Sagna
15	Denílson
17	Alex Song
25	Emmanuel Adebayor
4	Cesc Fàbregas
8	Samir Nasri
14	Theo Walcott

Arsenal Substitutes:

Emmanuel Eboué, Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner, Lukasz Fabianski, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Mikaël Silvestre.

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