Arsenal FC battled to a hard-fought result against Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final, with both sides locked in a fiercely contested encounter.
After Tuesday’s nine-goal thriller between Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich in the first semi-final in France, the Metropolitano was treated to a far more tactical affair, although the home crowd did their best to provide some early theatre by greeting the teams with an avalanche of toilet paper thrown from the stands on to the pitch.
Atletico enjoyed more possession early on but handed Arsenal the lead in the 44th minute when Gyokeres was brought down by David Hancko inside the box. The Sweden striker struck the penalty firmly past Jan Oblak to send Arsenal in ahead at halftime.
Atletico equalised in the 56th minute after the VAR spotted a Ben White handball inside the box from Marcos Llorente’s shot. Alvarez fired the resulting penalty into the top left corner beyond David Raya.
Antoine Griezmann rattled the crossbar a little later while Arsenal were awarded a late penalty that was overturned by the referee after a VAR review.
“We gave it a go. We went behind early on from a penalty that I thought was a bit dubious. We had chances to win it but it will all be decided in the second leg. They defend very well and have some very quick players up front,” Atletico captain Koke told Movistar Plus.
The result leaves the tie finely balanced heading into the second leg in London, where Arsenal will look to capitalise on home advantage, while Atlético aim to deliver one of their trademark disciplined performances on the road.
