Arsenal have beaten Barcelona in a hotly-contested Champions League quarter-finals clash at the Emirates stadium in London.
After going 1-0 up in the first half, Barcelona would have been expected to win comfortably, in a display which saw them running rings around their opponents.
David Villa opened the scoring, but in the second half, goals from Robin Van Persie and Andre Arshavin in the final 12 minutes swung the tie towards Arsenal, before a daunting return leg at the Nou Camp.
The result means Arsenal - thrashed 6-3 on aggregate by Barcelona in last year's quarter-finals - will carry a narrow lead into Camp Nou when the two sides meet in the second leg on March 8, Reuters reports.
The thrilling finale capped a superb encounter at the Emirates as arguably the two most stylish sides in Europe laid on a feast of attacking football.
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Arsenal only had 39 % of the possesion, but racked up the shot count with 13 shots to Barcelona's ten.
