Kirsten pounces to deny Arsenal

Bayer Leverkusen 1 Arsenal 1A last-minute goal by Ulf Kirsten denied Arsenal their first away win in the Champions League since last February. The Gunners had seemed set to overcome the dismissal of Ray Parlour, but Kirsten scored at the far post from a right-wing cross to cancel ou t Robert Pires's goal from a rare second-half Arsenal attack.

Parlour's third red card of the season - and the 43rd of Arsene Wenger's reign - looked harsh but the draw was just on the night.

Given that Arsenal arrived with a dreadful recent record outside Highbury in the Champions League, few of their supporters here could have expected to end up celebrating a win. The makeshift nature of the backline Wenger had put in front of the returning David Seaman had made that look particularly unlikely.

With injuries depriving the manager of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Lee Dixon, Matthew Upson and Ashley Cole - and with Oleg Luzhny suspended - Igors Stepanovs made his first Champions League start alongside Sol Campbell, while Giovanni van Bronckhorst filled in at left back.

Wenger's key message to his players before the game had been that they should begin in a more positive and determined fashion than on recent trips. "If we can go to Liverpool and win with 10 men then we know we are good enough. It's all in the mind a nd we must turn it around," he said.

The sight of Seaman saving from Germany's Oliver Neuville inside two minutes was not what he had in mind, though England's keeper may have been glad of the early touch. Now recovered from his shoulder injury, he was preferred to Richard Wright after a 31-match absence since September's 1-0 defeat at Panathinaikos. England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was watching from the stands.

Although Seaman was not troubled for a while after that scare, Leverkusen were initially dominant. They were keeping possession well, forcing Arsenal on to the back foot and threatening in particular down the right flank where Van Bronckhorst was struggling to cope with the incursions of Bernd Schneider and Ze Roberto.

Leverkusen's coach Klaus Toppmoller seemed to have identified that as a weak spot for Arsenal but three times in quick succession the Gunners might have scored. After Nwankwo Kanu brought a low save out of Jorg Butt from the edge the area, the 'keeper had to sprawl at his near post to repel a Sylvain Wiltord effort. Then Campbell hit an upright from a Van Bronckhorst corner.

That flurry of opportunities did not instantly signal a sustained period of Arsenal pressure. But Wenger's players grew in confidence and occasionally threatened goals, not least when Thierry Henry used his pace and movement to good effect on the left flank or Pires took possession.

Kanu, though, was not making the most of the ball he received in the deep-lying striker's role. And although Arsenal began to look more comfortable as the half wore on and mistakes slipped into Leverkusen's play, they had to survive scares in defence .

Leverkusen three times opened them up down the left side, Ze Roberto having drifted over, and went particularly close on one occasion. It needed a timely intervention by Campbell to block a goalbound Kirsten shot and, after a scramble, Seaman gathered.

The German side were struggling to manufacture clear chances and paid for that when Arsenal struck on the break, Pires making and finishing a slick move.

The Frenchman picked up possession inside his own half and advanced about 40 yards before passing to Wiltord on the right side of the area. Instantly, Wiltord accelerated past Diego Placente and crossed for Pires to score from a couple of yards.

Parlour then departed not long afterwards for a second booking, adjudged to have fouled Yildiray Basturk when the Turk appeared to dive. However, television footage later confirmed Parlour had raised his leg illegally.

"It's terrible," said Seaman afterwards. "To be fair they put us under a lot of pressure in the second half. When we went down to 10 men it was very hard. It was a great performance by the lads, some great defending. We would have settled for a 1-1 before the game.

The FA yesterday turned down Arsenal's appeal against playing their FA Cup sixth-round tie at Newcastle at 5.35pm on Saturday March 9th. Arsene Wenger had wanted the match to be brought forward to the Friday night or for it be designated as a noon kick-off because of Arsenal's European trip to Deportivo La Coruna the following Tuesday.

Guardian Service

BAYER LEVERKUSEN: Butt, Placente (Berbatov 74), Lucio, Nowotny (Vranjes 62), Zivkovic, Ze Roberto, Basturk, Ballack, Schneider, Neuville, Kirsten. Subs Not Used: Juric, Babic, Hejduk, Brdaric, Kleine. Booked: Zivkovic. Goals: Kirsten 90.

ARSENAL: Seaman, van Bronckhorst, Stepanovs, Campbell, Lauren, Pires, Vieira, Parlour, Wiltord (Grimandi 71), Kanu (Edu 76), Henry. Subs Not Used: Wright, Jeffers, Bergkamp, Inamoto, Tavlaridis. Sent Off: Parlour (68). Booked: Stepanovs, Parlour. Goals: Pires 56.

Referee: Alain Sars (Lorraine).

Group D: How they stand

P W D L F A P

Juventus 3 1 1 1 5 3 4

Arsenal 3 1 1 1 4 4 4

Bayer Leverkusen 3 1 1 1 4 5 4

Deportivo Coruna3 1 1 1 2 3 4

Previous results: Deportivo 2, Arsenal 0; Juventus 4 Leverkusen 0; Arsenal 3 Juventus 1; Leverkusen 3 Deportivo -0

Last night: Bayer Leverkusen 1 Arsenal 1; Juventus 0 Deportivo Coruna 0.

Remaining fixtures: Wed, Feb 27th: Arsenal v Leverkusen; Deportivo v Juventus; Tue, Mar 12th: Arsenal v Deportivo; Leverkusen v Juventus; Wed, Mar 20th: Dep Coruna v Leverkusen; Juventus v Arsenal.