Koln 1-2 Arsenal: Gervinho grabs brace on 30-minute debut as Gunners win despite Jenkinson own goal

The Ivorian, starting his first match for the London club, grabbed two goals before making an early exit with Arsene Wenger having seemingly seen enough of his new attacker.

Koln promised to provide a greater challenge early on, a Novakovic free kick sent just over the bar after Podolski was brought down on the very edge of the box.

However, this was one of their few contributions to the half as Arsenal dominated from then on enjoying a large share of possession and creating several chances.

Debut man Gervinho seemed intent on making his presence instantly known to the Arsenal faithful and gained the opportunity to do so just six minutes into the match.

Bending his run well to latch onto a beautifully weighted Jack Wilshere through ball, the former Lille forward showed his composure to lob the onrushing Koln keeper.

Arsenal pressure did not cease after gaining an early lead and they doubled it, again through Gervinho, just nine minutes later.

Theo Walcott found space on the right hand side after a slip by Koln full back Andrezinho and squared it for an easy finish for Gervinho.

After enjoying such domination, Arsenal offered a way back into the match for Koln in bizarre fashion on the stroke of half time.

Young defender Carl Jenkinson swung wildly at the ball in an attempt to clear only to see it slice violently in the air and sail all of 20 yards to lob Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.

It was certainly more than Koln deserved given their poor showing but they began the second half determined to atone for that lacklustre effort.

They enjoyed several early chances, the best of which fell to Novakovic who was again a touch wasteful in front of goal.

However, the second half petered out to a slower pace as both sides continued to make changes throughout and the pace became somewhat disjointed.

Despite victory, Arsene Wenger will not have ended the match completely happy after seeing young midfielder Conor Henderson stretchered off with what looked like a painful ankle twist towards the end of the game.