Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker has hailed Gary Cahill's "great sportsmanship" after revealing that his Chelsea counterpart apologised at full time for his part in their aerial collision.
The pair clashed heads during the first half of the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, leaving the experienced German defender in need of on-field treatment to stem the flow of blood.
Mertesacker was unable to play any further part in the match as a precautionary measure, but he later received an apology from Cahill and was happy to let the incident pass by after seeing his side pick up the victory on penalties.
"It is great sportsmanship from him," he told Arsenal's official website. "He is as well a champion, a decent fella, so I thanked him again for coming and taking care of that, it is an accident, but it was a nice touch. I'm pretty well for that hit and for the deep cut I suffered, I feel quite well.
"The result I think gives me a lift right now. I can remember everything [about the clash], so I think there's no concussion, it was just a very, very deep cut and the doctors already said on the pitch they didn't want to take any risk, so took me off as a precaution and I got some nice stitches."
Mertesacker, who starred in Arsenal's FA Cup final win over the same opponents in May, is now doubtful for the season-opening clash against Leicester City on Friday night.
