Crowd trouble delays Arsenal's Europa League opener

The match between the Gunners and Koln has been pushed back after visiting supporters attempted to swarm the home section at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal’s Europa League opener against Koln has been delayed by one hour because of concerns over crowd safety.

Goal can confirm the delay was prompted after Koln supporters, many of whom appeared to not have tickets, attempted to swarm the home section at the Emirates Stadium.

Despite there only being around 3000 tickets available to away supporters, an estimated 20,000 supporters of the Bundesliga outfit have descended on north London ahead of the fixture.

Article continues below

Editors' Picks

Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for Inter Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over

The match is now poised for a 21:05 BST kick-off, with Arsenal announcing the delay 50 minutes before the originally scheduled start.

Alexis Sanchez is set to start for Arsene Wenger’s side for the first time since his failed move to Manchester City, with Olivier Giroud and Alex Iwobi also recalled