Arsenal's second-half pressure did not pay dividends as the Gunners were held to a 1-1 home draw by Liverpool in the first-leg of the Champions League quarter final on Wednesday. Emmanuel Adebayor headed Arsenal in front in the 23rd minute but Dirk Kuyt drew Liverpool level just three minutes later. The Reds will have an away-goal advantage when they host Arsenal at Anfield Road nest week. Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina almost gifted Liverpool an early opener. He rushed out to clear a long ball after seven minutes but it surprisingly evaded him. Adebayor tried to pounce on Reina's error but the Spanish goalie made amends when he blocked the Togolese' hopeful effort from outside the area. Robin van Persie should have put Arsenal in front in the 21st minute when he ghosted behind Sami Hyypia to receive Mathieu Flamini's pinpoint long ball inside the area. The Dutchman's volley went high over the bar. Van Persie had another effort one minute later but his powerful low shot was denied by the outstretched hands of Reina. Shortly after, Adebayor opened the scoring for the hosts after capitalizing on a poor marking by Finnish defender Hyypia. The giant striker escaped the attention of Hyypia to tower and head home Van Persie's superb in-swinging cross from the right. Arsenal fans' celebrations were cut short after Kuyt claimed the equalizer for Liverpool, thanks to some neat work from Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool skipper beat William Gallas and Kolo Toure to burst through the area and provide a low cross to Kuyt, who tapped in from close range.
Arsenal Pressure Liverpool sat back in the second-half to maintain the draw, paving the way for Arsenal to mount pressure on the visitors. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger surprisingly took off the lively Van Persie and introduced energetic forward Theo Walcott. Walcott made a notable impact. Nine minutes after restart, Reina superbly blocked a fierce long-range drive from the English youngster. Arsenal had a penalty claim waved away by Dutch referee Pieter Vink six minutes past the hour mark. Belarusian midfielder Alexander Hleb tricked three men and raced clear on goal, but was apparently pulled down by Kuyt. Arsenal's best chance came in the 71st minute when Adebayor's low cross from the by-line found Cesc Fabregas, whose shot was astonishingly blocked by his teammate Nicklas Bendtner off the line. Arsenal goal Liverpool goal
