Giroud delivers as Arsenal find knockout blow
OLIVIER GIROUD sometimes projects himself as a modern-day Greek God, with his chiselled looks and air of superiority, but the Arsenal forward left Athens with the stature of Zeus having delivered the most important hat-trick of his career to carry Arsene Wenger’s team into the Champions League knockout stages.
This was a night when Wenger had challenged his players to approach the hurdle without thinking of the consequences, but none met the challenge quite as vigorously as his towering centre-forward.
Petr Cech made his own crucial contribution, with a string of crucially-timed saves, but Giroud claimed his place in Arsenal’s hall of fame with his majestic performance.
From staring the ignominy of a group stage exit full in the face, Arsenal can now look forward to tackling Barcelona, Real Madrid and the rest when the draw for the last 16 takes place on Monday.
“I told you before that it would be the greatest escape,” Wenger said afterwards. “I must say I’m very proud of the team as we had to be right on the mental and tactical side. At2-0we had to push for a third goal, it was too dangerous to stay at 2-0.
SPECIAL
“Nine times out of 10 you are out (after losing the first two games). We needed something special to come back like we did and we needed a complete team performance. This team really is a team and they showed it again.
“You don’t need to single Giroud out because he scored the goals. But he showed character again with the penalty.”
Olympiakos have often been dismissed as a flat-track bully in a one-team league in Greece, so it is these occasions, when they are given the opportunity to bloody the nose of a more illustrious rival, that are regarded as an opportunity to bolster Greek pride.
Manchester United and David Moyes discovered to their cost, in February 2014, how formidable Olympiakos can be on their turf: the home side secured a bruising 2-0 defeat only to lose the last 16 return 3-0 at Old Trafford.
That failure to finish the job against United was a sign of flakiness when the pressure is on in the Champions League and, with a place in the knockout stage in their own hands against Arsenal, that anxiety was always liable to trigger another wobble, despite the raucous backing of the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis.
But could Arsenal force the home side into an attack of the jitters, could they impose themselves as the formidable attacking force that has blown away United, Bayern and league leaders Leicester already this season?
Or would they fall short again, as they did in Zagreb and against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup? And, as they did so damagingly, against Olympiakos at the Emirates.
Wenger chose to be bold, however, with Theo Walcott named in the starting 11 having only just returned from a calf injury.
Joel Campbell, who announced himself to English football by scoring for Olympiakos in that 2-0 win against United, was also given the opportunity to enjoy another glorious Champions League night in Athens, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain surprisingly started on the bench.
The Oxlade-Chamberlain decision was a gamble, both because of the risk of Walcott fading before the crucial final stages and also because the absence of his work-rate down the right left full-back Hector Bellerin repeatedly exposed.
Olympiakos had clearly identified the Arsenal right flank as a weakness and Bellerin was given the runaround in the opening exchanges, Seba and Brown Ideye taking it in turns to take on the Spaniard and, by and large, beat him.
Walcott, too often, jogged half-heartedly back into a defensive position long after the horse had bolted.
Olympiakos fancied their chances. Felipe Pardo flashed a shot over inside 90 seconds and Ideye should have scored after 12 minutes when, after escaping the plodding Per Mertesacker, he inexplicably pulled the ball back to the penalty spot rather than attempting to guide a right-foot shot past Cech from close range.
The home side, who had Kostas Fortounis correctly booked for diving in an attempt to win a penalty, went close again when Seba clipped a rightfoot strike over from 20 yards.
Arsenal were chasing shadows, or kicking them in the case of Aaron Ramsey, who was booked for a clumsy tackle on Fortounis. They simply could not get a foothold in the game and Olympiakos goalkeeper Roberto was a spectator until Mathieu Flamini’s scuffed effort from Campbell’s pass brushed the crossbar on 25 minutes.
That near-miss tilted the momentum in Arsenal’s direction, however. Like a boxer who had been pummelled for three rounds, one counter-punch infused them with belief and, four minutes later, Giroud put them ahead.
It was a classic Arsenal goal. A sublime defence-splitting pass from Mesut Ozil to Ramsey resulted in the Welshman crossing from the left and Giroud met the ball with a powerful header. Roberto fumbled the ball and allowed it escape his grasp and bounce in at the near post, prompting a delayed reaction from the Arsenal players and supporters, who took an age to celebrate.
Arsenal were now one goal away from wrestling Olympiakos out of the driving seat, but those hopes looked to have suffered a blow when Giroud fell to the ground, clutching his right ankle, two minutes into the second half. He appeared to be in agony and was treated for two minutes, but he was able to climb to his feet gingerly before returning to the action in some style.
And how important that proved to be, with the 29-year-old brushing himself down to score the decisive goal moments later. Once again he benefited from Ozil’s vision, the German starting the move before Campbell’s composed pass teed up Giroud to stroke the ball home from six yards.
Olympiakos responded, with Cech keeping out a Manuel da Costa header before denying Fortounis with a brilliant fingertip save.
And that was as good as it got for Olympiakos, with Giroud sending Arsenal through from the penalty spot, following a handball, to crown a famous night for Wenger and his team.