Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he feared Thursday's Europa League opener against Cologne would be cancelled after kick-off was delayed due to crowd problems.
Wenger's men prevailed 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium, not before the clash was pushed back by one hour to 21:05pm BST because of crowd congestion in London.
Speaking after substitute Sead Kolasinac, Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin ensured Arsenal got off to a winning start in Group H following Jhon Cordoba's stunning 40-yard opener for Cologne, Wenger told reporters: "We waited patiently in our dressing room but what was difficult for me was that I had all kinds of plans to think about.
"Do we play tomorrow? At what time do we want to play? Do we play next week, but they have a Bundesliga game midweek we have a League Cup game midweek. Do we move it to Tuesday and play Thursday? It was all kinds of speculations that we had to analyse.
"In the end, at some stage, I thought they will not play the game. I can't see the police taking any risk. We live in a society of 100 per cent security.
"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 dealt well with the situation. There was no aggravation and I hope everything goes well after the game.
"Was it the right decision? If nothing happens after the game, yes.
"[The Cologne fans] were very clever. I don't know how they managed to infiltrate our fans and get everywhere but they did that very well. I don't know did they go through Arsenal membership, on the internet. But they did very well."
Job done September 14, 2017
