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| Mariano slides over United's Edwin van der Sar to score the crucial equaliser [GALLO/GETTY] |
FC Porto and Arsenal scored crucial away goals in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, giving both teams the advantage heading into the second leg next week.
Porto scored a late equaliser
courtesy of substitute Mariano Gonzalez in their 2-2 draw at defending champions Manchester United.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the second half to give English Premier League side Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Villarreal.
The second legs will be played on April 15, and the winners will play each other next month in the semi-finals.
Goals galore
Gonzalez scored Porto's equalising goal in the 89th minute, four minutes after Carlos Tevez had put United ahead 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Lucho Gonzalez's cross from the right was left by Gary Neville and Mariano brought it down with his chest before shooting past United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
"It could be a bit of fatigue.
"They only had two days to recover (from playing Aston Villa), but there was also a lack of concentration,'' United manager Alex Ferguson said.
"It will be a difficult game now over in Porto without question.''
Tevez thought he had given United the lead for good only minutes earlier, lifting the ball into the net when Wayne Rooney's heel flicked on Neville's throw in.
In the first half, United trailed for the first time in their title defence in the fourth minute when Jonny Evans' poor clearance allowed Cristian Rodriguez to put Porto ahead.
But the visitors also had some sloppy defending, and Rooney took advantage of it to equalise in the 15th by pouncing on a lax backpass from Bruno Alves.
Adebayor goal
Arsenal got their away goal in the 66th minute when Adebayor chested a long ball from Cesc Fabregas to the right of the area and beat Diego Lopez with a bicycle kick.
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Tuesday April 7
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal
Man United 2-2 Porto
Wednesday April 8
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich
Second legs April 14 and 15
Semi-finals
Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal
Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea
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Villarreal had taken the lead in the 10th when Marcos Senna's swerving shot from 20 yards evaded diving goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and landed inside the top corner.
Fabregas had also set up both of Adebayor's goals in Saturday's 2-0 win over Manchester City, which marked both players return from lengthy injury spells.
In the 70th, Robert Pires came on to face his former team for the first time since leaving London in 2006, and Villarreal began to respond with better chances.
Guille Franco, however, missed two good chances in the last 10 minutes and Senna sent a hard shot toward goal in the 80th but it just missed the top corner.
The last time the two teams met, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehman saved Juan Roman Riquelme's late penalty to put the Gunners into the Champions League final in Paris, where the English team lost to Barcelona 2-1.
On Wednesday, five-time European champion Liverpool will host Chelsea in the first leg of the quarterfinals, while Bayern Munich visits Barcelona.
The second legs will be played next Tuesday and the final is scheduled for May 27 in Rome.
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