Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal

Villarreal are nicknamed Yellow Submarine after The Beatles' famous hit but it was another Fab Four who swung this Champions League quarter-final in Arsenal's favour last night.

It is now clear that Arsene Wenger's masterplan for glory is a 4-2-3-1 system where an attacking quartet are given licence to wreak havoc with a blend of pace and vision, safe in the knowledge two midfielders will sit deep to protect the back four.

The four in question were Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, who all turned this tie on its head after the Yellow Submarine dominated the opening 45 minutes.

Before the break Villarreal wingers Ariel Ibagaza and Cani tucked in behind strikers Giuseppe Rossi and Joseba Llorente to expose a slight flaw in Wenger's formation as Alex Song and Denilson were sitting too deep.

But the awesome foursome gradually took greater control and secured a draw that makes Arsenal strong favourites to reach the last four at Emirates Stadium in next week's return leg.

“I believe that they gave us a problem with the position of Ibagaza and Cani and we didn't manage to cut the balls to them,” admitted Wenger. “Our two full-backs didn't know whether to push in to cover them or cover the centre-backs. From those positions came all the problems.

“We were more compact in the second half and we could bring quicker support to Adebayor as well. Our lines were a bit too stretched in the first half.”

The formation is similar to Liverpool's in many ways. For the deadly duo of Steven Gerrard playing off Fernando Torres, read Fabregas and Adebayor.

It is, consequently, no surprise that since this duo were restored to the starting line-up, they have combined for all three of Arsenal's goals, including the quite magnificent equaliser at Estadio El Madrigal after Marcos Senna's
30-yard piledriver had given the hosts a deserved lead.

After Nasri and Walcott had probed on the wings minutes earlier, Fabregas floated an angled ball forward that the Togo striker controlled on his chest before volleying with a scissor kick past a helpless Diego Lopez to prompt vigorous celebrations from his manager.

Wenger is now in danger of having an embarrassment of attacking riches at his disposal with Robin van Persie and Eduardo hopeful of returning next week and Andrey Arshavin eligible for domestic duty. But that optimism is offset by the question marks against the defensive durability of a side shorn of their goalkeeper and most in-form defender.

Manuel Almunia and William Gallas face substantial periods on the sidelines and while Wenger has the excellent Kolo Toure to marshal operations and options at the back with Mikael Silvestre and Johan Djourou, Lukasz Fabianski has not been convincing in goal during his Arsenal career to date.

The Polish international has only played regularly in the relative security of the Gunners' domestic cup campaigns this season but Wenger was typically resolute in his assessment of his temporary No1, who admittedly made a decent double save immediately after entering the fray. “If you don't have two good ones, you have no chance at that level,” he said.

There are still growing pains too, as such a system relies on its two defensive midfielders showing great positional awareness and maturity.

It is clear why Wenger was so desperate to sign Xabi Alonso from Liverpool last summer as the Spaniard performs that role for the Reds to such fine effect.

The Frenchman palpably believes Denilson is up to the task given his status as the only member of the squad to feature in every Champions League game — but Song does not look good enough against top opposition. Rossi's neat footwork bamboozled him time and again — including when picking up a first-half booking — and Abou Diaby's potential return next week from a thigh injury cannot come soon enough.

In truth, Arsenal were rewarded for their resilience but they were slightly fortunate that the game had not drifted beyond them by the time their attacking quartet begun to push Villarreal back and impose their own will.

And had it not been for two of those four coming up with the goods, on any another night the Yellow Submarines might have sunk the Gunners without trace.