After Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Sydney FC in their opening pre-season match, Per Mertesacker and Petr Cech spoke to the media.

In an interview with Premier Sports, Mertesacker first talked about his goal, saying:

“Yeah (it was) unexpected, but I always try to be there on set pieces to get a chance and was lucky to have scored today.”

The German was then asked about the his overall thoughts on the game, and he pointed to the fantastic support, with 80,000 fans turning up for the friendly:

“What a great attendance today. We are very grateful for this opportunity here to play our first game in Sydney and very thankful for the atmosphere.”

Cech was in agreement on that front, thanking the fans again as well as stating that he was pleased with the performance, but that it should have been a few more, as most fans will agree:

As Per said we are thankful for the support. When you sell out such a big stadium it’s a great testament to the club as well.

“We produced a very good performance and obviously it should have been more than only 2-0 but I have to say for the first game of the season it was a very good game.”

Cech was asked about Saturday’s game and how this helps with getting back to full match fitness. The Arsenal goalkeeper emphasised the importance of these matches in preparing for the full-on nature of the Premier League, saying:

“Yeah you want to be match fit as soon as possible. Obviously we’ve been training, we had a double session yesterday and a game today, everybody got a few minutes so it’s a good start so hopefully everybody stays fit and we can add to that.”

Overall it seems that the players are echoing the sentiments of most Arsenal fans, who will be pleased to see the first game went so smoothly.

Over 80,000 supporters got a chance to watch the Gunners live. Hopefully it’ll be the same again on Saturday.