Arsenal's European run has become a glossary of goalless draws, writes Jonathan Wilson. Against Real Madrid they relished a dominant stalemate; against Juventus they enjoyed a serene stalemate; and last night they reached the Champions League final by enduring an agonising stalemate against Villarreal, secured, eventually, by Jens Lehmann's last-minute penalty save.

Without ever playing anywhere near their potential, Arsenal looked to have done enough. Villarreal's sting had been drawn, and for 20 minutes they had not threatened. Then Gael Clichy, who had come on after nine minutes for Mathieu Flamini, jumped with Jose Mari for a Juan Pablo Sorin cross. The Spaniard tumbled, Russian referee Valentin Ivanov saw a foul, but Lehmann, a beacon of authority throughout, dived to his left and beat away Juan Roman Riquelme's kick.

The penalty may have been a nonsense, but this was significantly the least comfortable of the 10 clean sheets Arsenal have now kept in succession. The five-man midfield, so effective in previous rounds and in establishing the 1-0 first-leg lead, sat far deeper than it has done, nerves or policy confining them almost entirely to their own half so that Thierry Henry was repeatedly left isolated. Only on the odd occasions when Emmanuel Eboue or Cesc Fabregas forgot themselves and burst forwards did Arsenal threaten, and only when they were threatening did they look comfortable.

"We have shown before we are good on the ball," said Henry, "but today was more about desire and commitment." Arsène Wenger had spoken of the need for his side to be themselves, but this was a display defined by inhibition. Their passing was hasty, which seemed to restrict them further, and the fewer options they had looking forwards, the worse their passing became.

They were uncommonly edgy too at the back, the return of Sol Campbell for the injured Philippe Senderos upsetting the harmony of the back four, a situation only exacerbated by Flamini's hamstring strain. Three times Franco went close with headed chances and Diego Forlan skewed wide with half the goal to aim at, but Arsenal hung on.

A night of celebration for Wenger and Arsenal, but whether it is Barcelona or AC Milan they face in the final, they will need to rediscover their fluency.

*Fifa has announced unprecedented measures to prevent any match-fixing or betting scandals at this summer's World Cup. Every player, official and referee taking part in the finals in Germany will have to sign a written pledge that they will not bet on the tournament.

The move by the game's world governing body follows the sharp increase in sports betting worldwide and recent cases of corruption in professional matches, such as in Belgium and Germany. It will leave the England players - some of whom, including Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, are fond of a flutter - in no doubt that gambling on the World Cup is strictly forbidden.

Fifa has also set up an "early warning system" organisation to monitor any suspicious gambling patterns at the finals in Germany.

Sepp Blatter, Fifa president, said: ''There will be special instructions to all the referees, linesmen, players, coaches and official delegations in the World Cup. They will have to sign a paper saying that they will never, themselves or their families, be involved in betting on the World Cup."

The early warning system will see Fifa officials work with leading bookmakers and betting markets to track gambling patterns on matches. Fifa general secretary Urs Linsi added: ''Whenever we discover that [betting patterns] on certain matches are not appropriate we would get the signs and act accordingly.

''This will be the first time we have done this but the system has now been established."

Zinedine Zidane is to retire from football after the World Cup finals. The Real Madrid midfielder, 33, who helped France to victory in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, said: "It's my decision and it's final."

*Rugby union star Justin Marshall has completed a move from Leeds Tykes to Welsh regional side the Ospreys. The former New Zealand scrum-half has signed a two-year contract with the Ospreys after requesting a move away from Headingley following the Tykes' relegation from the Guinness Premiership.

*The new depth at the top level of English cricket was highlighted by the A team selected to play Sri Lanka in a four-day tour match at Worcester next week. Kent captain Robert Key, who is perhaps unlucky not to have played a Test since January last year, leads a side that includes six players who were selected for England's winter tours to Pakistan and India.

Essex opener Alastair Cook, who was an instant success as a replacement for the injured Michael Vaughan in Pakistan, is in the team along with Alex Loudon, Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Owais Shah and Chris Tremlett, who had to withdraw from the Pakistan tour through injury. Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Chris Read is given another chance to stake a claim for a recall to the senior side having missed out on selection this winter.

*Wimbledon has again refused to offer pay parity to its men and women champions and remains the only major tennis tournament with such a policy. The All England Club announced that the men's winner this year will receive £655,000 and the women's champion £625,000. Both figures represent a 4 per cent increase on the amounts won by Roger Federer and Venus Williams last year.

The French Open announced this month it would pay its men's and women's champions the same amount for the first time, although the overall prize fund is bigger for the men. The two other majors, the Australian and US Opens, have long paid equal prize money.

Overall, prize money for the June 26-July 9 championships will be £10.4m, a 2.9 per cent increase on last year.

Meanwhile Andy Murray lost in three sets to fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain in the second round of the Barcelona Open.