Alexis Sanchez’s fine strike helped Arsenal to a 3-1 win over Cologne in their Europa League Group H tie, after the match was delayed by an hour for crowd safety reasons.
The match was postponed until 9.05pm with many home fans unable to enter the turnstiles due to thousands of gathering Cologne fans outside the stadium.
Those fans were celebrating first as Jhon Cordoba gave Cologne the lead after 10 minutes, superbly lofting the ball over David Ospina from 40 yards after the goalkeeper’s weak clearance.
Arsenal levelled after the break through Sead Kolasinac’s fierce left-footed volley, just four minutes after being introduced at half-time.
But Sanchez put Arsenal ahead on 67 minutes with a fine curling effort into the top corner from the edge of the box, his first goal of the season.
Hector Bellerin rounded off the win (82), finishing up on the rebound from Theo Walcott’s initial effort.
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As kick-off approached, it was clear there were many groups of visiting supporters in home sections of the ground, with reports of up to 20,000 Cologne fans in London on Thursday.
Cologne, playing their first European tie in 20 years and first in this competition since 1992, have lost their opening three Bundesliga games, but took the lead in bizarre fashion early on.
Theo Walcott fluffed a chance later in the first half from 12 yards, but Arsenal equalised on 49 minutes through defender Kolasinac, who rifled home a volley from the left of the box as Walcott’s cross looped up from a deflection.
Ospina’s tame clearance from a long ball was touched forward by Leonardo Bittencourt, allowing Cordoba to take aim from 40 yards, finding the corner of the net over the hapless Arsenal goalkeeper.
Sanchez, whose much-talked-about move to Manchester City broke down late in the summer window, hit a superb strike into the top corner from 20 yards with 23 minutes remaining, leaving Timo Horn helpless.
Bellerin made it 3-1 late on, finding the bottom corner from an angle after Walcott’s effort had been well saved by Horn.
