Cologne fans light flares inside the stadium during the UEFA Europa League Group H football match between Arsenal and FC Cologne at The Emirates Stadium in London on September 14, 2017. LONDON
Arsenal said Friday they were investigating how vast numbers of away fans gained access to the home sections of Emirates Stadium for their clash with Cologne, sparking ugly scenes that marred the Europa League clash.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he had been preparing for a postponement at the north London ground, describing the decision to play the game as a "gamble".
Visiting fans were issued with 3,000 tickets but around 20,000 fans of the German club are believed to have made the journey to the British capital.
The start of the match was delayed by an hour as ticketless Cologne fans sought to gain entry to the ground and there were clearly thousands of away supporters sitting among Arsenal fans, causing a security risk.
Five arrests were made and Arsenal issued a statement insisting the safety of supporters was the main concern at the time.
Earlier, YouTube footage showed thousands of Cologne fans surging through the streets of London, chanting in unison and setting off flares.
"Following last night's UEFA Europa League match with Cologne, we would like to stress that fan safety was always our paramount concern and informed all decisions made," Arsenal's statement said.
"We have launched a full review into the circumstances surrounding the game and will ensure any lessons that can be learned are used in the future."
A UEFA probe is also likely after pictures emerged of a minority of Cologne supporters causing problems for stewards inside the stadium.
UEFA PROBE
Wenger said UEFA were certain to look into the incident.
"They (Cologne fans) were very clever," he said. "I don't know how they managed to infiltrate our fans and get everywhere but they did that very well. I don't know if they went through Arsenal membership, on the internet... they did very well.
"I thought they would not play the game, because I can't see the police taking any risk.
"We live in a society of 100 percent security and I thought they would never take a gamble to play this game when I saw the images around the stadium. But I must say our supporters as well dealt well with the situation and there was no aggravation."
Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn said fans who misbehaved had "brought shame on the club" and club legend Bodo Illgner, a World Cup-winning goalkeeper with Germany in 1990, also criticised the small minority of fans who misbehaved.
Arsenal's statement also said it was "very disappointing" that so many home tickets appeared to have been purchased by Cologne supporters via ticket touts after the club worked closely with police, who deployed extra numbers once the trouble began, and UEFA.
"The 3,000 tickets issued to Cologne fans was in line with competition rules but it is clear many more visiting fans arrived, causing significant congestion and disturbance outside the stadium before kick-off," it said.
"Many tickets were sold through touts and this is very disappointing and something we continue to work hard to address."
Arsenal won the match 3-1 after falling behind to a long-range strike from Jhon Cordoba before bouncing back in the second half. Substitute Sead Kolasinac equalised before goals from Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin gave the Londoners the win.
Cologne coach Peter Stoeger refused to be questioned on the actions of the club's supporters: "I have no comment about the fans," he said.
"I'm the coach, my job is the team, my job is football not the fans," the Austrian addedLONDON
Arsenal's Europa League encounter with Cologne finally got underway an hour late on Thursday despite police making arrests after dealing with "disorder" at the Emirates Stadium as German fans occupied home sections of the ground.
Thousands of ticketless supporters of German club Cologne arrived at the Emirates, while travelling supporters who did have tickets were unable to gain access to the ground for the Group H opener, with kick-off delayed by an hour in the interests of "crowd safety".
The match did begin at its rescheduled time of 9:05pm local time (2005 GMT), having been pushed back an hour from its original 8:05pm (1905 GMT) start.
Some Arsenal fans called for the Cologne supporters to be moved to designated away areas but stewards decided to leave them where they were, with a club spokesman telling Britain's Press Association: "The players were relaxed and preparing for the game despite the delay... The decision to go ahead was the best option and the safest option."
NINTH MINUTE GOAL
Cologne fans, who had been singing before kick-off, had even more reason to celebrate when John Cordoba's 40-yard strike gave the visitors a ninth-minute lead.
"Officers are dealing with disorder at the Emirates Stadium where fans have gathered for the Arsenal vs FC Koln match," said a pre-match statement issued by London's Metropolitan Police.
"A policing plan is in place for the game. Additional officers have been deployed."
A subsequent statement confirmed arrests had taken place.
"Arrests at 2141hrs (2041 GMT) = four people have been arrested on suspicion of public order offences," Scotland Yard said.
SOCIAL MEDIA
One social media post appeared to indicate scuffles inside the ground, with Richard Conway, a BBC sports news correspondent, tweeting: "Koln (Cologne) fans fighting with stewards inside Emirates stadium. Group arrived in home end and fought their way into away section."
Earlier reports suggested as many as 20,000 Cologne fans had gathered in London just hours before Thursday's kick-off despite only 3,000 tickets being made available to away supporters.
Posts on social media sites showed large numbers of Cologne fans singing and marching around Oxford Circus in central London.
FANS
Meanwhile Arsenal issued a statement on their website warning travelling fans they risked being kicked out of the ground if they bought tickets in the sections of the Emirates reserved for home supporters.
"Please note visiting supporters that purchase a ticket in the home end for this fixture are likely to be ejected from the stadium," the statement said.
Cologne are currently bottom of the Bundesliga table, having lost all three of their opening games in this season's German top flight.
But they qualified for the Europa League after finishing fifth last term.
Cologne coach Peter Stoeger, asked on the eve of the Group H opener if he had a message for the thousands of travelling fans, replied: "Enjoy the pubs!"
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