Arsenal rallies for 2-2 Champions League tie with Barcelona; Inter beats CSKA Moscow 1-0

Arsenal rallies for 2-2 tie with Barcelona

LONDON — Second-half substitute Theo Walcott scored in the 69th minute and Cesc Fabregas converted a penalty kick in the 85th as Arsenal rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie defending champion Barcelona 2-2 Wednesday night in the first leg of the European Champions League quarterfinals.

Barcelona dominated the first half and only brilliant goalkeeping by the Gunners’ Manuel Almunia and key blocks by defenders kept the visitors from surging ahead.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic latched onto a long ball from by Gerard Pique about 30 second into the second half and lifted it over Almunia. Ibrahimovic made it 2-0 in the 59th after beating an offside trap.

Walcott entered in the 66th, then scored three minutes later when he took a pass from Nicklas Bendtner and beat goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

Fabregas got the tying goal after he was shoved in the penalty area by Carles Puyol, who was ejected. After passing a late fitness test following a leg injury on Saturday, Fabregas appeared to sustain another knock and limped around during the final minutes.

At Milan, Diego Milito scored in the 65th minute to give Inter Milan a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow.

Both teams wore black armbands in tribute to the victims of bombing in Russia this week. On Monday, 39 people were killed in two attacks in the Moscow subway system. Twelve were killed Wednesday by two suicide bombers in Dagestan in southern Russia.

The second legs of the home-and-home, total-goals series are Tuesday. The following day, Bayern Munich goes to Manchester United with a 2-1 lead and Lyon travels to Bordeaux with a 3-1 advantage.