GUNNERS ON FIRE
Arsenal crush Cologne; Everton off to bad start
Paris, Sept. 15: Alexis Sanchez scored a stunning goal as Arsenal came from behind to beat Cologne 3-1 in a Europa League clash on Thursday that was delayed for an hour due to crowd trouble.
Kick-off in the Group ‘H’ opener at the Emirates Stadium was put back until 9.05 pm local time in the interests of “crowd safety” after problems caused by thousands of ticketless Cologne supporters arriving at the Emirates Stadium in London.
A stunning 40-yard strike by Jhon Cordoba put Cologne ahead with Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina caught out of his area.
Arsenal improved and substitute Sead Kolasinac volleyed them level before a brilliant goal by Sanchez gave them a 67th-minute lead.
The Chilean cut in from the left flank before curling a sublime effort into the far top corner, and the three points were secure when Hector Bellerin made it 3-1 late on after Theo Walcott’s effort had been saved by Timo Horn.
Earlier, Everton’s groupstage campaign got off to a disastrous start as Ronald Koeman’s side were taken apart in Italy, losing 0-3 to Atalanta.
The Italian club — back in Europe after a 26-year absence — were forced to entertain their English visitors in Reggio Emilia, a twohour drive south of their base in Bergamo, because their own stadium does not have a licence for European games.
But that did not prove a hindrance to Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who completely overran Everton, scoring all their goals in the first half courtesy Andrea Masiello, Alejandro Gomez and Bryan Cristante.
Gomez’s goal, a stunning curling strike from outside the area, was the pick of the bunch for Atalanta, who also saw Remo Freuler strike the bar early in the second period.
Everton’s next match in Group ‘E’ will be at home to Apollon Limassol, the Cypriot side who snatched a 1-1 draw with Lyon on Thursday.
Meanwhile, AC Milan underlined their status as one of the teams to beat in the competition by romping to a 5-1 victory at Austria Vienna in Group ‘D’ with Andre Silva scoring a hattrick.
In other matches, Villarreal beat Astana 3-1; Real Sociedad Rosenborg 40; Nice won 5-1 at Zulte-Waregem of Belgium; Lazio beat Vitesse Arnhem 3-2; Marseille beat Konyaspor 10 and Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 at Hertha Berlin. —