Gunners draw first blood

Arsenal 1 Villarreal 0

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 on the night as the Spaniards seemed content to sit back and counterattack, the Highbury faithful will know "1-0 to the Arsenal" should have been more.

With Jose Antonio Reyes suspended, Wenger opted for five in midfield, Gilberto tucking in front of the defence, and they got off to a positive start.

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 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.

With 20 minutes gone, Freddie Ljungberg got into the left of the area, but the angle was too tight 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.

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 Belarusian 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 getting 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 Hleb - 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.

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Senderos, Flamini, Hleb (Bergkamp 80), Ljungberg (Van Persie 80), Silva, Fabregas, Pires, Henry.

VILLARREAL: Barbosa, Javi Venta, Quique Alvarez, Arzo, Arruabarrena, Senna, Tacchinardi, Sorin (Josico 72), Riquelme, Jose Mari (Franco 55), Forlan (Calleja 90).

Ref: Konrad Plautz (Austria).