Skipper William Gallas rescued Arsenal with a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kiev tonight. Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, twice, and Cesc Fabregas all had good first-half chances for the Gunners, who still have yet to win a European tie in the former Soviet Union.

Kiev made them pay when Bacary Sagna was adjudged to have pushed over Ognjen Vukojevic and Ismael Bangoura scored a 64th-minute penalty - only for Gallas to net two minutes from time at close range.

Arsene Wenger's troops plugged away, though, and got their reward on 88 when skipper Gallas bundled home Theo Walcott's cross from close range. Despite the smaller capacity, a problem with a new ticketing system led to congestion at the turnstiles and only around three-quarters of the home fans got in before kick-off.

A small pocket of Arsenal supporters could be picked out in the far corner - and many of those 150 or so were from the Russian or Ukrainian fan clubs.