Madrid ¨C Atletico Madrid ?and Arsenal traded penalties on Wednesday as Julian Alvarez's second-half spot kick canceled out Viktor Gyokeres'?first-half goal to earn the two sides a 1-1 draw in a Champions League semifinal first leg that simmered more than it sizzled.
After Tuesday's nine-goal thriller between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the first semifinal in France, the Metropolitano was treated to a far more tactical affair, although the home crowd did its best to provide ?some early theater by greeting the teams with an avalanche of toilet paper thrown from the stands onto 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 with the lead at halftime.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.