Arsenal complete Russian mission

Arsenal LFC became the first team to qualify for the UEFA Women's Cup semi-finals after a 1-1 home draw against Russian side CSK VVS Samara gave them a 3-1 aggregate win.

Maggs goal
The English champions exited at the quarter-final stage last season against Toulouse FC, but holding a 2-0 lead from their away leg, they always looked favourites to advance. They moved even closer to the last four when the prolific Ellen Maggs put them ahead from close range in the 17th minute after a corner from Kirsty Pealling that had come off CSK defender Saule Dzharborova.

Scores levelled
Dzharborova made amends ten minutes later when her corner was flicked on by Irina Petriaeva and Olga Kremleva was on hand to level the scores on the night. However, CSK rarely troubled Arsenal's defence after this moment, and the home side went close through Jayne Ludlow just before the break.

Progress sealed
Tatiana Egorova and Galina Komarova both had chances to put the visitors back in the tie with close-range efforts in the second half, but Arsenal were happy to hold on.

'Really pleasing'
Arsenal manager Vic Akers said:  "It is really pleasing to be in the semi-finals. We were hopeful of making it after the first leg in Russia. It was always going to be very difficult because it looked like the tie was over. But they were not going to give it up easily. We saw that in their play."

Semi-final opposition
Akers's team will now face either Norway's SK Trondheims-Ørn or Danish competition debutants Fortuna Hjørring, whose tie stands at 2-2 ahead of Saturday's second leg. The home leg of Arsenal's semi-final in April could be played at Highbury.