Wolfsburg (Germany) (AFP) - Arsenal came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw in the Women's Champions League semi-final first leg at Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Wolfsburg scored twice in five minutes midway through the first half but Arsenal's Rafaelle Souza pulled one back just before the break.
Wolfsburg dominated possession in the second half but lacked penetration without star forward Alexandra Popp as Stina Blackstenius scored a 69th-minute equaliser.
"We had one mission when we came here - to get a result to take back to London and decide it there," said Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall.
"That's what we did and nothing is decided yet.The game is very much alive."
His Wolfsburg counterpart Tommy Stroot said "the game was decided by small and crucial moments", promising to "work on these and use it for the return match in London".
Wolfsburg's goalkeeper Merle Frohms told Germany's SID network the draw "feels like a loss at the moment", but said "we know we did a lot right and we can beat Arsenal".
Wolfsburg's Lena Oberdorf told SID "we're armed and ready for the return leg".
Arsenal travelled to Wolfsburg missing three of their top players.Leah Williamson was diagnosed on Friday with a torn ACL, joining Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema who also suffered the same season-ending injury.
Wolfsburg had injury concerns of their own, coming into the game missing striker Popp, who failed to recover from a leg injury sustained in Germany's 2-1 loss to Brazil in early April.
Cheered on by 20,000 home fans in the spring sunshine, Wolfsburg started energetically and looked dangerous despite Popp's absence.
Ewa Pajor, top scorer after Popp in the league, gave Wolfsburg the lead after 19 minutes, hammering in a pass from Sveindis Jonsdottir from close range.
Jonsdottir got on the scoresheet five minutes later, pouncing on a mistake when Arsenal tried to play the ball out from the back.
She was in the right place to capitalise on a poor pass from Rafaelle, tapping in to give the home side a commanding lead.
Arsenal struck back shortly before half-time, Frida Maanum's shot forcing a reflex save from Frohms.
From the ensuing corner, Rafaelle rose high to head the ball in, making up for her earlier error.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Maanum found Blackstenius for a tap-in to level the scores.
Wolfsburg pushed hard in search of a winner, Jonsdottir going close with four minutes remaining and Pajor inches away from a curling cross in injury time, but the visitors held on.
The winners face either Barcelona or Chelsea in the final.
Barcelona won the first leg in London on Saturday 1-0 thanks to a fourth-minute goal from Caroline Graham Hansen.
