London, January 10:

Theo Walcott scored with 11 minutes left to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw with north London rival Tottenham in the first leg of the English League Cup semi-finals.

Tottenham led through a 37th-minute goal from midfielder Jermaine Jenas. But the Gunners equalised when Spurs defender Lee Young-pyo tackled Walcott and the ball hit the striker in the chest before rolling into the net. The goal boosted Arsenal’s chances of duplicating their win at the same stage last season, when they went on to lose the final 2-1 to Chelsea.

The winner will meet either Everton or Chelsea in next month’s final at Wembley. The Blues won the first leg of its semi-final 2-1 at home on Tuesday.

Copa del Rey

MADRID: Thierry Henry scored and Victor Valdes made a handful of goal-saving stops to earn FC Barcelona a 1-1 draw at Sevilla in the first leg of fifth-round Copa del Rey match.

The France striker controlled Rafael Marquez’s long ball before slotting it under goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis in the 24th minute. Diego Capel latched onto a corner and beat Valdes in the 44th, salvaging a draw for the defending champions.

Earlier, Joaquin Sanchez headed home in the fifth and 12th minute to hand Valencia an away-goal advantage with a 2-1 win at Real Betis. Juan Manuel Mata scored an own-goal to put Betis on the scoreboard in the 48th. Getafe — last year’s finalist — moved closer to a place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Levante. Juan Angel Albin scored from long-range in the 36th before Marco Gasquero and Pablo Hernandez added a pair two minutes apart late in the second half to secure the victory.

Markel Susaeta salvaged a 1-1 draw for Athletic Bilbao against Espanyol with a bouncing shot in the 77th. Jonathan Soriano had given Espanyol the lead eight minutes earlier after poking Luis Garcia’s long ball out of the air and over goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia.

Ezquiel Garay converted a penalty in the 74th as Racing Santander rallied for a 1-1 draw at Zaragoza, who had led on Ricardo Oliveira’s free kick in the 22nd. Jose Martin Caceres’ header in the second minute was enough to guide Recreativo Huelva over Villarreal 1-0.