Toulouse in the ascendancy

Toulouse FC are favourites to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Cup after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Arsenal FC in London on Saturday.

Strongly fancied
FA Women's Premier League leaders Arsenal were strongly fancied to account for their French opponents at their Boreham Wood stadium but were denied by an excellent second-half showing from Toulouse.

First opening
Arsenal had the better of the early exchanges but took 26 minutes to create the first real opening of the match. English international Angela Banks showed great control and skill in the visitors' box, but, after creating space for herself, her effort was turned behind for a corner.

Grant opener
Spurred on by a sizeable crowd, Arsenal opened the scoring ten minutes later through Ciara Grant. In a move obviously rehearsed on the training ground, Grant stole in to head home a fine centre from Kirsty Pealling after Marieanne Spacey had tapped a short corner to her.

Ludlow denied
Spacey and Grant combined again soon after but Jayne Ludlow shot straight at the Toulouse goalkeeper when presented with an excellent chance to make it 2-0.

Byrne in form
If Arsenal were the dominant force in the opening 45 minutes, it was Toulouse who were in the ascendancy after the break. Goalkeeper Emma Byrne was Arsenal's key player, pulling off a number of superb stops to keep her side in the game, and the tie.

Rouquet leveller
But she could do nothing about Sandrine Rouquet's 76th-minute leveller. In fact, neither Byrne nor defender Yvonne Tracy were able to clear the ball in the Arsenal box and the unmarked Rouquet was free to drive the ball into an empty net.

Return leg
With a crucial away goal in the bank, Toulouse will be looking to claim the scalp of Arsenal when they meet for the return leg in France on 30 March. The winners of the tie are likely to meet 1. FFC Frankfurt in the last four after the German outfit beat Odense BK 3-0 in Denmark in their first leg.