Arsenal needed two Gervinho goals to battle their way past Cologne on Saturday with manager Arsene Wenger happy with his side’s performance.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Frenchman started by talking about the one-minute silence observed before the game for what happened in Norway on Friday, expressing his sympathy over the attacks and describing what happened as a “terrible shock” for a peaceful country.

On the game, the Arsenal boss explained that he is overall happy with the performance of the players, with the good pace in the first half and also with Gervinho’s debut as he however added that the defensive department was exposed to counter-attacks after taking too many risks.

Asked about the late injury suffered by young Conor Henderson, the manager revealed that the 19-year old twisted his knee and the injury looks “quite bad” as he concluded by saying that the midfielder will undergo tests on Sunday morning.

After the game, Wenger said:

I think it is the minimum you can do. It was a terrible shock when you see what happened there, in a country that is so peaceful.

We would like to support all those people who suffer, of course. We know that Norwegians follow English football.

We played at a good pace in the first half and looked dangerous. Gervinho had a good start and that is always important for his confidence.

Overall, I liked today. We took many risks and were exposed to counter-attacks but, overall, I am happy.

The only sad thing today is the injury to Conor Henderson, it looks quite bad but let us hope that we have good news tomorrow morning. He twisted his knee, I don’t know how big the damage is but the first signs don’t look too encouraging.

Thegunninghawk.com