Connect with us

Arsenal FC Fixtures

UEFA fine Arsenal and Cologne for failing to control their fans

Published

on

Arsenal and FC Köln fined after their clash last night

Last night, Cologne made their come back to Europe after 25 years. And Arsenal also were making their first appearance in the Europa League after 2 decades.

 

The Cologne fans made their presence felt all over London. Almost 20,000 Cologne fans had traveled to England to watch their team play for the first time in 25 years in an European competition. We saw them marching through the streets of London.

But to their dismay, Arsenal had only allocated 2900 seats to FC Köln supporters.

Despite warnings, FC Köln fans still flew to London and tried to sneak into the Emirates stadium. They even went to the extent of buying Arsenal shirts so they could sneak into the Home end to see their team play.

The German club fans created havoc in London. We saw fights breaking out between the home and away club fans and also with the stewards and the police.

Here are some videos showing the Cologne hooligans fighting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTdQtC4OYec

and here’s another:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACUhXDMZOFs

After the match, UEFA took disciplinary action against FC Köln and Arsenal.

UEFA have charged Cologne on the following 4 grounds:

  1. Crowd disturbances
  2. Setting off fireworks
  3. Throwing of objects
  4. Acts of damage

And Arsenal on the following grounds:

  1. Stairways blocked in away supporters sector

The match was on the verge of being cancelled but it was  delayed by one hour due to the chaos caused by the Cologne fans.

Arsenal released the following statement after the match:

“We worked with our colleagues at Cologne to stop supporters travelling without match tickets.

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. Many tickets were sold through touts and this is very disappointing.”

Wenger also shared his thoughts:

“Do we move it to Tuesday and play Thursday? It was all kind of speculations you know that we had to analyse and see how we can deal with the situation,

But in the end at some stage 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% 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 dealt well with the situation as well and there was no aggravation.”

FC Köln coach Peter Stoger said:

 “I have no comment about the fans,

I’m the coach, my job is the team, my job is football, not the fans.”

Have to agree with the Peter. But their fans have immense passion.

Reports say around 4 or 5 people have been arrested. And this doesn’t seem to be the end of it.

The case will be heard next Thursday which could point towards action being taken ahead of the return game in Cologne.

In spite of everything happening outside and inside the Emirates, our players still managed to win and they deserve to be praised for this. ')}

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Arsenal FC Fixtures

Arsenal v Brighton: preview, team news, possible XI, prediction & more

Published

on

Arsenal Brighton

Match Preview: Arsenal hope to bounce back against Brighton after Palace

Arsenal will be hosting Brighton at home this Saturday as they look to get back on track after Monday’s loss. Brighton themselves are desperately in search of a win, after consecutive losses and their last result being a draw.

The Gunners had to face a setback against the Eagles and had to see Spurs climb above them in tables over the weekend. Still, Arteta’s men hold a game in hand over Conte’s team and are tied on points.

Arsenal had no bite in attack or defense against Crystal Palace

After a couple of key injuries to Partey and Tierney, it’ll be a test for Arteta to find solutions. The coach, however, is full of optimism.

“We have to show tomorrow the energy, the commitment and the passion that we want to play the game tomorrow in front of our fans,” he said via Arsenal.

Team News

Kieran Tierney will be out for this game and his injury might keep him out for the rest of the season. Arteta confirmed the left-back had surgery but didn’t confirm any timeline for his return.

“He just had surgery yesterday, so it’s very early to understand how everything is going to develop, he’s going to be out for the period that we estimate and in which condition he will be after that period I think it’s too soon to say something else.”

Another player that will miss the game is Thomas Partey, who is struggling with a thigh injury. “It’s a little bit ambiguous but he has a significant injury. We will have to keep assessing him but he will be out for some weeks,” he said.

Further elaborating, “It’s an area he had a previous injury and he felt it straight away and he’s not fit.”

Possible Arsenal Starting XI

Arsenal: Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Nuno; Lokonga, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette

Result Prediction

Arsenal 2 – 1 Brighton

We fully expect Arteta’s men to get back to winning ways after that setback on Monday night. Brighton, while they shouldn’t be taken lightly, are winless in their last seven games.

 

Continue Reading

Arsenal FC Fixtures

What Arteta said about Tavares, players leaving in January and MORE!

Published

on

Arteta Tavares

Check out everything Mikel Arteta had to say about Nuno Tavares, if he regrets players leaving in January

It is safe to say that Nuno Tavares, just like the team and Arteta, did not have a great performance on Monday. However, it is those defeats that test the mentality and separate the best from the average.

Arteta talked about how to give the youngster confidence and why he decided to take him off. “Always I speak with the players and I spoke with Nuno because I care about how feel. We are here to help them and make their careers better.”

Regardless, he understood it wasn’t a decision that was great for the Tavares but one he understood.

“That was a decision that hurt him, obviously, but he understands that it was for the benefit of the team and he respects that.” via Arsenal’s official website.

When asked how he intends on getting the best out of Tavares, he said:

“His confidence probably wasn’t the best because he wasn’t playing a lot of minutes as well and probably wasn’t at his best and he needs the rhythm, the competition and the understanding with his teammates.”

Quite evidently, there is a deep mutual respect and understanding between the players and Arteta. The mutual respect between players and coach goes a long way as defeats shape character in tough patches of form.

Arteta does not have regrets over letting players leave

The Gaffer was asked whether letting players leave in January was the right decision. He reaffirmed and asked back if he should justifying those decisions again and again.

“I don’t know if we have to justify it, we have to make a decision based on what we see every day, ” he said.

The former Everton man continued, “How the players can contribute in the role that they have at the club, or if they cannot do it or they don’t want to do it, we find solutions and that’s what we always try to do.”

 

Continue Reading

Arsenal FC Fixtures

Arteta on Palace defeat, Brighton game, fight for top 4 and more

Published

on

Arteta brighton

Check out everything Arteta had to say about Arsenal’s game against Brighton and more

Arteta and Arsenal were faced with an unexpected setback with a humiliating defeat at Selhurst park. The Gunners looked done and out of the game from the kick off whistle.

When asked how the defeat impacted the squad, Arteta had a bit to say. “Embrace the challenge. You lost, now you want to win, it’s hurting and it’s still hurting. We lost two big players, two really important players for us for sure.” Via Arsenal.

While his tone suggested he blamed injuries, he accepted responsibility and to accept the result.

“But whenever that happens you can’t cry for it because they are not going to be available for us. So we have to find other solutions and we have to be as good and as competitive as we have been.”

Arteta was also asked about what were his expectations for the match against Brighton. The Spaniard said the usual things one says before a game about his opponent.

“They’re a team with a lot of personality, a coach that is very willing to play, that is very aggressive in the way they press, that wants to dominate the game and they have good players to do that but they are very difficult to beat.”

Besides just complimenting Brighton, he commented on their set piece intelligence and defense.

Arteta when asked about top four

The coach was also asked about if the belief of finishing top four is still there. His comments implicated he wants the squad to move on from the defeat and focus on the task ahead.

“[The setback] has happened and it’s happened with nine games to go and we have to react now.

We have to show tomorrow the energy, the commitment and the passion that we want to play the game tomorrow in front of our fans.”

Continue Reading

Trending