The hands of Jens Lehmann lifted Arsenal into the Champions League final. When the referee Valentin Ivanov awarded a soft penalty for the substitute Gael Clichy's supposed foul on Jose Mari, Juan Ramon Riquelme had the opportunity to level the tie on aggregate from the spot.
The goalkeeper, with his aggressive stance, won the battle of nerves and he was able to dive to his left and save.
Arsene Wenger's team now face Barcelona or AC Milan in the European Cup final in Paris on May 17th.
After this largely forgettable contest, they must revere an Arsneal defence that has now recorded its 10th Champions League clean sheet and, in particular, hail the poise of Lehmann. Famed performers such as Thierry Henry were inconsequential, but this had been an agonised, wrenching test.
When a team is so close to the final players can become even more scared they will lose their way with those closing steps. The route map that Wenger had provided was clear enough, but his men held it with trembling hands. Arsenal did seem organised when defending at the start but were not as purposeful as the manager had wished once the ball was in their possession.
Brows must have knitted, too, when Mathieu Flamini had to go off with an apparent hamstring strain in the ninth minute. While Clichy was an outstanding replacement in principle, the French left-back had not appeared in the first team since November 5th because of a foot injury.
There were no early signs that Arsenal could be as suave as they had been on their nights in the Bernabeu and the Stadio delle Alpi.
Villarreal, as expected, passed with far more fluency than they had shown in the first leg, but that in itself was not a cause of menace. While it is always discomfiting for Arsenal to see the opposition holding a substantial share of possession that is normally their prerogative, the consequences were limited. Villarreal could have feared that each advance was really bringing them up against their limitations.
While this is their debut season in the tournament, it was still noteworthy that the club's record Champions League victory before this game had been by the 1-0 margin achieved on three occasions. Such a win could, of course, have delivered this tie into the hands of a penalty shoot-out, but the statistic also spoke of modest firepower.
It was usually sustained movement, rather than true incisiveness, that gave rise to discomfort for Arsenal prior to the interval. Sol Campbell, restored to the colours after injury and psychological distress, did not have an immediate burden of anxiety. The showing by Arsenal at that juncture had been aesthetically displeasing but tolerable in its outcome. Fear was at its peak after 40 minutes when Guillermo Franco got a touch on a Javi Venta cross and Lehmann had to pull off a save before Kolo Toure cleared.
The most polished build-up from Villarreal had come in the 18th minute. Its closing phase saw Riquelme stroke the ball to Marcos Senna at the near post and his lay-off was shot straight at the Arsenal goalkeeper from an angle by Pablo Sorin.
Riquelme was understandably more prominent than he had been at Highbury but Arsenal could be glad at that stage that his machinations were falling short of total effectiveness. After half an hour, one well-rehearsed routine failed marginally when Sorin could not get a touch to the free-kick his fellow-Argentinian had dipped over the Arsenal wall.
Despite the survival, Wenger would not have been waiting with congratulations at half-time. When told of complaints that his 4-1-4-1 formation is negative he had joked on Monday that he wished good luck to anyone who could get Freddie Ljungberg, Cesc Fábregas, Alexander Hleb and other midfielders to play like genuine defenders. The concern last night was that those players actually were spending too much of their energy on covering.
There would have been particular displesaure over the showing of Henry, who had failed comprehensively in the lone striker role that has generally seemed a perfect fit for him. The start to the second half was delayed by a fan who ran on to the pitch to offer the Arsenal captain a Barcelona shirt with the Henry name already on it, but this had not been the sort of showing to illustrate why he is so coveted.
Franco, of Villarreal, was more menacing. One header, from Javi Venta's delivery was put wide in the 48th minute and he was also to nod wide six minutes later. For all that, the La Liga side lagged in the tie and the coach Manuel Pellegrini had to introduce a third striker in Jose Mari.
The breakthrough for Villarreal nearly came with a muddle. Franco, after 65 minutes, headed the ball up in the air and with no satisfactory clearance, Forlan had his opportunity, which he fired off-target.
VILLARREAL: Villarreal: Barbosa, Javi Venta, Pena, Quique Alvarez, Arruabarrena (Roger 82), Riquelme, Josico (Jose Mari 63), Senna, Sorin, Forlan, Franco. Subs not used: Viera, Arzo, Guayre, Hector Font, Rubio.
ARSENAL: Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Flamini (Clichy 9), Hleb, Fabregas, Silva, Ljungberg, Reyes (Pires 69), Henry. Subs not used: Almunia, Diaby, Van Persie, Song Billong, Djourou.
Referee: Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
