Gunners outclass Villarreal to reach last four
Walcott inspired Arsenal to victory against Villarreal
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Wednesday, 15, Apr 2009 10:33
Arsenal have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League after cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win over Villarreal at the Emirates Stadium.
The tie was evenly poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Spain last week but Arsene Wenger's side rarely looked threatened by a blunt Villarreal team.
Theo Walcott steadied any Arsenal nerves in the first half before Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie struck in the second half to make the tie safe.
Walcott put in an excellent all round performance and showed that he has put his recent shoulder injury well behind him with his second goal in a week.
The England winger opened the scoring after just ten minutes of the match. Cesc Fabregas got a faint flick on Adebayor's pass that enabled the ball to wrong-foot the defence.
Walcott kept his composure one-on-one with Diego Lopez, calmly chipping over the Villarreal goalkeeper into the net.
Arsenal almost made it 2-0 before half-time but were denied by some last-ditch defending.
Van Persie's free-kick from the edge of the box was spilled by Lopez and Adebayor's header from the rebound was deflected towards his own goal by Gonzalo Rodriguez before he managed to clear it off the line.
The visitors, who had been forced on the back foot for most of the first half thanks to the Gunners' front three, managed to work their way back into the game at the start of the second half.
But although they gained more possession they could not turn that into goalscoring chances and Arsenal soon made them pay.
On the hour-mark van Persie started a fast break for the home side before delivering a perfect cross for Adebayor. He applied a deft touch with the outside of his boot to divert it past Lopez.
By now Arsenal were relaxed and playing with freedom and they went 3-0 ahead nine minutes later.
Walcott, who tormented the Villarreal defence all night, was brought down in the box by Diego Godin. The Villarreal protested the decision vociferously which led to Sebastian Eguren receiving his marching orders for a second yellow card.
Van Persie converted the spot kick to send the Gunners into their second Champions League semi-final in four years.