VILLARREAL, Spain (AP):
ARSENAL GOALKEEPER Jens Lehmann saved Juan Roman Riquelme's late penalty kick and his team drew 0-0 with Villarreal yesterday to reach its first Champions League final.
The English team advanced 1-0 on aggregate, but was dominated by the small-town team from eastern Spain at its El Madrigal stadium in the second leg.
Arsenal, making their debut in the semi-finals like Villarreal, will play FC Barcelona or AC Milan in the final at the Stade de France in Paris on May 17.
Arsenal's draw maintained their unbeaten run in 12 Champions League games this season and extended their streak without conceding a goal to 10 games.
The visitors made a poor start when left back Mathieu Flamini was injured in the ninth minute and was replaced by Gael Clichy.
Four minutes later, striker Guillermo Franco wasted Villarreal's first of a succession of chances when he shot over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.
ARSENAL DEFENCE
In front of more than 20,000 fans, Villarreal dominated the first half with playmaker Riquelme troubling an Arsenal defence that had Sol Campbell making his return after several months out.
Villarreal midfielder Juan Pablo Sorin's low shot in the 17th was caught by Lehmann, while right back Javi Venta's low cross across goal went untouched in the 37th.
With captain Thierry Henry largely uninvolved in attack and midfielder Cesc Fabregas regularly misplacing his passes, Arsenal didn't threaten Villarreal goalkeeper Mariano Barbosa.
Lehmann held Riquelme's low free kick just before halftime as Arsenal clung on to their lead from Kolo Toure's goal at Highbury last week.
Franco headed two chances just wide in the 48th and 54th minutes, and Diego Forlan almost scored when his side-foot shot missed in the 64th. Franco had the ball in the net three minutes later, but Russian referee Valentin Ivanov disallowed the goal for offside.
In the 89th minute, however, Riquelme was presented with the chance to equalise from the penalty spot and take the game into extra-time - but his low shot was parried by Lehmann.
