Villarreal: Emmanuel Adebayor scored a second-half equalizer to give Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Villarreal and a valuable away-goal after the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinals match on Tuesday.
Villarreal's defense had largely contained the threat from Adebayor, but in the 66th minute the Arsenal striker chested a long ball from Cesc Fabregas up into the air and then beat keeper Diego Lopez with a perfectly executed bicycle kick for his fourth goal in the competition.
"It was a great goal. It was unexpected because the 'keeper was surprised. He probably thought he was in the wrong position to score but he managed to turn that into an advantage for him," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It puts us in a good position."
Marcos Senna's swerving shot from 20 meters (yards) had earlier given Villarreal the lead with 10 minutes gone. Giuseppe Rossi's footwork drawing several Arsenal players before he fed Senna, who was unmarked and had time to pick his spot and score past Manuel Almunia.
The play flowed back and forth, and Villarreal substitute Guille Franco twice failed to convert chances in the last 10 minutes, while Senna just missed the top corner with a rising drive from 25 meters out in the 80th.
"I think it was rather unjust to come away with just a draw," Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said. "We created at least four clear chances in the first half and I don't think Arsenal created more chances apart from the goal during the 90 minutes."
Still, Wenger believed Arsenal had the momentum going into the return leg on April 15.
"I believe we have created the momentum without a doubt. I'm confident," the Frenchman said. "We'll be on our toes and completely focused but we have such a desire to go through at Emirates (Stadium) that I'm confident we can do that."
But Arsenal will likely be without defender William Gallas and goalkeeper Manuel Almunia after both players limped off in the first half.
Gallas damaged knee ligaments after colliding with Rossi and could out for the remainder of the season, while Almunia suffered a recurrence of an ankle sprain after coming out of his area to clear a long ball and is likely to miss the return leg.
"We have to assess it tomorrow but the first signs don't look too good," Wenger said.
Opportunities were abundant as both teams sought to attack in their first meeting since the 2006 semifinal when Arsenal advanced at the Spanish side's expense.
Villarreal were strong on the counterattack and came close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute but the visitors were saved by Gael Clichy, who chested Joan Capdevila's off-balance shot off the goal line to Almunia.
Theo Walcott led a quick breakout in the 18th before Lopez denied Samir Nasri's angled shot as Arsenal looked to exploit Villareal's inability to keep possession.
Lukasz Fabianski replaced Almunia in the 28th and was called into action two minutes later to save a low strike from Senna.
Arsenal was consistently troubled by Italy striker Rossi, who led Villarreal's one-touch counterattacks, and Ruben "Cani" Gracia fired over in the 42nd. Shortly afterwards, Arsenal defender William Gallas came off as Villarreal appeared in full control.
"They gave us a problem with the positions of Ariel Ibagaza and Cani, who came in just behind the two strikers and we didn't manage to cut the balls to them," Wenger said. "From that position came all the problems."
Fabregas, who had been booked for taking a free kick too quickly, was lucky not to see yellow for a second time in the 52nd after a lunging tackle on Joan Capdevila, and plastic bottles reined down in the direction of the Spanish international as he went to take an Arsenal corner moments later.
Robert Pires came on in the 70th minute to face his former team for the first time since leaving the Gunners in 2006.
The winner will face either Manchester United or Porto, who drew 2-2 in Tuesday's other quarterfinal.
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