Adebayor delighted to put Arsenal in command

Arsenal FC striker Emmanuel Adebayor revealed he "may not have scored many better" after his spectacular bicycle kick earned his side a vital away goal in a 1-1 first-leg draw in their quarter-final against Villarreal CF.

Good combination
Since Adebayor and Cesc Fàbregas have put their injuries behind them and been reunited in Arsène Wenger's starting XI the pair have combined for two wins and three goals, but the 25-year-old Togolese forward was thinking of the team not himself after his brilliant strike. "Yes I'm very happy for the goal and I may not have scored many better," he said. "I'm delighted to get an important one in a game like this but the most significant fact is that we drew from a losing position and we got an away goal to take back to London for the second leg. Scoring good goals is fine but the most important thing is that you have to win."

High scoring
Wenger described it as a "great goal" and it has given Arsenal a significant advantage ahead of the second leg next Wednesday. Including the third qualifying round against FC Twente, Arsenal have won four times at home in this competition this season yielding a goal aggregate of 10-0, only slipping up in the scoreless draw against Fenerbahçe SK. It does not make appetising reading for Villarreal and the reappearance of the Fàbregas-Adebayor partnership, which also brought both Arsenal's goals in the 2-0 win over Manchester City FC last Saturday, looks equally ominous for the Yellow Submarine. "We all know how much quality Cesc has and when I saw him about to look for me with the pass I had another idea in mind. But the way I controlled it I was only left with the option of the overhead kick.

Split-second decision
"As a striker you are used to making that kind of split-second decision. I think I made the correct choice this time. However, scoring good goals is fine but the most important thing is that you have to win games. We pushed high up the pitch in the second half and took over. We knew that Villarreal would probably get tired in the second half because they'd given their all in the first part of the match. We took advantage of that and scored one goal but we could have had more."

Winning mentality
Adebayor believes the Gunners now have everything in their favour to reach the semi-final for the first time since they last played Villarreal in 2006: "I don't think we have to rely on the 1-1 result at home because for us the most important thing is to win. I'm not saying we're through already but I do think that if we play our own game to our normal standard then we have a very good opportunity to go through." Do he and his team-mates believe this is a UEFA Champions League-winning squad? "I don't know, I don't know." he said reluctantly. "For us the most important thing is to play a game at a time; after the second leg we can think about winning the trophy."