Arsenal 1 - 1 Aston Villa

Listened to this one on Sirius Radio yesterday, and from the sound of things, Arsenal dominated the match, yet had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

The big news from the match was the debut of Theo Walcott. The 17 year old came on as a second-half substitute for Freddie Ljungberg. Freddie was a monster in the first half, but, coming off an injury, it was clear during the second half that he’s not at full match fitness. So, Theo was introduced to thunderous applause from the 60,000 + at Ashburton Grove.

What a debut it was. Within moments of coming on the pitch, Walcott had a run at the Villa defense which generated a scoring opportunity. This seemed to lift the team as a whole, and about six minutes from time, Alex Hleb found Walcott open on the left side of the penalty area. Walcott sent a beautifully weighted ball back across the face of goal, which was headed down by Robin van Persie, deflected, but only out as far as Gilberto, who smashed the ball into the top netting for the equaliser.

Next up for the Gunners is the second leg of the Champions League 3rd Round Qualifier against Dinamo Zagreb. Arsenal take a 3-0 lead into this home match, which means that apart from a total meltdown, passage to the Group stages is all but assured. Look for a very young side to take the pitch this Wednesday. Kickoff is at 3:05 PM ET. No television coverage of this one here in the US, but you can listen online at Arsenal.com.