Atletico hit back to hold Arsenal in cagey Champions League semi-final first leg

MADRID, April 29 : Atletico Madrid and Arsenal traded penalties on Wednesday as Julian Alvarez's second-half spot kick cancelled out Viktor Gyokeres's first-half goal to earn the two sides a 1-1 draw in a Champions League semi-final first leg that simmered more than it sizzled.

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.

"We failed to finish off the game with the chances we had. We hope the match in London isn’t our last in the Champions League this season."

The winners after the May 5 return leg will face Paris St Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest on May 30,