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Cape Town - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes his players did well to adapt to difficult playing conditions as they beat Ostersunds 3-0 on Thursday.
The Gunners were surrounded by snow drifts and were playing on an unfamiliar synthetic pitch at the Jamtkraft Arena, but maintained their composure and clinched victory in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 clash.
Nacho Monreal put the Premier League side in front in the 13th minute before an own-goal from Sotirios Papagiannopoulos made it 2-0. Mesut Ozil secured the victory with a third goal in the 58th minute.
"I think we adapted quite well to the pitch," said Wenger, according to Sky Sports.
"They (Ostersund) were maybe a bit cautious at the start and we took advantage of it. I feel that at 2-0 at half-time, it was important for us not to concede a goal and win the second half.
"I felt there was more to score one or two more in the second half but we were in control and once we went 2-0 up... overall we won in a comfortable way.
"The risk at the start was that I didn't know how tough the pitch would be for our players. But overall we have no game over the weekend, so it was an easier decision.
"The only risk was the injuries. I'm happy we had no problems and the pitch was quite good."
