Story of the match: Arsenal come from behind to beat Cologne
Arsenal came from behind to beat Cologne in their delayed Europa League opener against a backdrop of crowd trouble at the Emirates Stadium.
Kick-off was delayed by an hour as ticketless away supporters attempted to enter the ground, with plenty of Cologne fans sat in among the home section when the tie finally got under way, with the Gunners eventually running out 3-1 victors.
Four arrests were made on suspicion of public order offences as extra police were deployed to the scene.
On the pitch, Arsene Wenger’s much-changed side show determination to fight back from Jhon Cordoba’s early 40-yard strike to seal three points thanks to goals from Sead Kolasinac, Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin.
"Wilshere’s having a stormer. So good to have him back. I’d pick him over Ramsey every time. #afc @JackWilshere." - Arsenal fan Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) was impressed with Wilshere’s second-half cameo.
Wilshere's having a stormer.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 14, 2017
So good to have him back.
I'd pick him over Ramsey every time. #afc @JackWilshere pic.twitter.com/3sQaAXvhrB
Hector Bellerin. Not a night where singling out a single performance was an obvious decision but Bellerin played well throughout, at wing-back in the first half and a more traditional right-back role after the half-time shuffle. Always offers an out-ball and gets up and down the flank with ease, deserved his goal which wrapped up three points on what could have proven a difficult night for the Gunners.
Quite how the situation which emerged at the Emirates Stadium which saw this contest delayed by an hour was able to unfold is uncertain. One thing that is clear is Arsenal having plenty of questions to answer and are likely to face a UEFA investigation into their operation of the match. Having decided the game would go ahead, it soon became clear that swathes of Cologne supporters had gained access to home sections of the stadium.
Kolasinac was only on the pitch for 223 seconds before he rifled home Arsenal’s equaliser. It was the full-back’s second goal for the club after he also scored as a substitute in the Community Shield victory against Chelsea.
David Ospina: 5 (out of 10)
Rob Holding: 5
Per Mertesacker: 6
Nacho Monreal: 6
Hector Bellerin: 7
Alex Iwobi: 6
Mohamed Elneny: 7
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6
Theo Walcott: 5
Alexis Sanchez: 7
Olivier Giroud: 6
Sead Kolasinac (for Holding, 45): 7
Jack Wilshere (for Iwobi, 68): 7
Reiss Nelson (for Walcott, 83): 6
Timo Horn: 6
Lukas Klunter: 5
Jorge Mere: 6
Dominique Heintz: 6
Konstantin Rausch: 6
Matthais Lehmann: 5
Simon Zoller: 6
Marco Hoger: 5
Jonas Hector: 6
Leonardo Bittencourt: 6
Jhon Cordoba: 7
Milos Jojic (for Hector, 34): 5
Marcel Risse (for Zoller, 64): 5
Yuya Osako (for Klunter, 75): 5
Chelsea v Arsenal (Premier League, September 17)
Borussia Dortmund v Cologne (Bundesliga, September 17)
