Pires denies Chelsea Champions win
| Chelsea's Marcel Desailly misses the second leg after his sending off |
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LONDON, England -- Frenchman Robert Pires scored a vital away goal as Arsenal earned a 1-1 draw at London rivals Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
Pires's neat 59th-minute header cancelled out Iceland forward Eidur Gudjohnsen's strike from a tight angle six minutes earlier.
Chelsea suffered another heavy blow when captain Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second yellow card offense after 83 minutes and will miss the return leg.
Arsenal are now unbeaten in their last 17 games against Chelsea.
But a spirited Chelsea performance had seemed destined to be rewarded with the victory their fans have been waiting on for five and a half years.
Gudjohnsen had charged down an attempted clearance by German keeper Jens Lehmann who had raced out of his area.
Chelsea's hopes were dashed six minutes later when Pires rose to head Ashley Cole's chip from the left of the box past a helpless Marco Ambrosio.
Chelsea will now travel to Highbury in two weeks' time knowing they must score if they are to progress.
French captain Desailly will be kicking himself following his sliding tackle on compatriot Patrick Vieira.
He had already been booked for foolishly knocking the ball out of Lehmann's hands as the keeper shaped to thrown the ball downfield.
Advantage Arsenal
"Maybe Arsenal have the slight advantage now. We were desperate to keep a clean sheet but now we need to go there and score," said Gudjohnsen.
"We had difficulty closing them down in the first half but when we scored we looked like we could get a second.
"Their goal was a blow because we were on top. It was an important goal for them, you could see that by their reaction. But the game is not up yet - it's only half-time."
Chelsea had increasingly dominated proceedings and the Gunners enjoyed a let-off shortly after the restart when a Frank Lampard shot deflected off Sol Campbell and into the side netting.
Arsenal's luck could not however save them from the consequences of the horrendous defensive mix-up which allowed Chelsea to take the lead.
There appeared little danger as Lampard swept a loose ball forward through the inside-left channel.
But Campbell's decision to allow Gudjohnsen to chase the ball and Lehmann's response saw the Icelandic striker hook the loose ball into the empty net from a tight angle.
Chelsea immediately went in for the kill and might easily have snatched a second when Lehmann failed to hold another attempt from Lampard, the rebound just defeating Damien Duff.
Instead, it was Arsenal who grabbed both an equalizer and a precious away goal with a swift counter-attack that generated the space for Cole to pick out Pires, who got in front of John Terry to head past Ambrosio from eight yards.
The Frenchman served his team equally well at the other end, getting his body in the way of another goalbound volley from Gudjohnsen and preserve Arsenal's narrow advantage.