Lehmann gives Gunners Euro penalty prize

Zidane to retire

Everton’s Labone dies

- Imagine the scene. From the penalty spot with two minutes left, a dual between an Argentinean and a German stands between an English club and their greatest-ever achievement.
That was the scene in Spain tonight when Villarreal were awarded a late dubious penalty and, with the game still goalless, Arsenal retained their one-goal advantage from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Highbury.
Had Juan Roman Riquelme scored, Villarreal would have gone in to extra time with a significant initiative but Jens Lehmann dived to his left to save and make Arsenal the first London club to reach a European Cup Final.
As they failed to produce any of their trademark flowing football, the Gunners rode their luck and had other occasions to thank their confident keeper.
Arsenal have now extended their Champions League record of consecutive clean sheets to ten games. Lehmann hasn’t conceded for 745 playing minutes so breaking the record previously held by Edwin Van Der Sar when he was with Ajax.
It all means that Arsenal - the English club with a French accent - will meet Barcelona or AC Milan in next month’s final in Paris.

- Manchester City end a run of seven consecutive Premiership defeats while Aston Villa have won only one of their last nine games after former Villa striker Darius Vassell scores the only goal at Villa Park.
Villa are denied a point when a late Kevin Phillips goal is, apparently incorrectly, chalked off for offside.

- In League Two, the great escape is on for Torquay United. The Gulls 4-0 demolition of fellow strugglers Stockport County at Plainmoor is their third consecutive win under new manager Ian Atkins. They remain in the bottom two but only by a goal difference of one goal from Oxford United.
Like Stockport, Barnet are only two points better off after a 1-1 draw at Rochdale.

- France icon Zinedine Zidane will retire from football after the World Cup finals in Germany.
Signed him from Juventus for a world record £37million in 2001, the 33 year-old still has a year left on his contract at Real Madrid but has been dogged by injuries in recent months.
He told French television channel Canal+: “It’s my decision and it’s final. I have to listen to my body and I cannot carry on for another year. I think it is better to clarify the situation now.”

- Stalwart former Everton captain Brian Labone dies after collapsing outside his home in Maghull. He was 66.
He made 534 appearances in winning two Championship titles and an FA Cup winner’s medal with the Toffees.
Labone was recognised as one of the best central defenders of his generation to earn 26 caps for England, which included three of England’s four matches at the 1970 Word Cup in Mexico.
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright says: Kenwright said: “He was the noblest of them all. He epitomised all that was great about this club. Harry Catterick called him the last of the corinthians and there is no more fitting tribute than that. ‘Legend’ doesn’t even do him justice.”