GIROUD TO THE RESCUE
Arsenal striker snatches late equaliser against Southampton
LONDON
SECOND half substitute Olivier Giroud rescued Arsenal with a late equaliser after Southampton had looked like taking all three points in a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s Stadium yesterday.
France international Giroud, who came off the bench in the 72nd minute to replace compatriot Alexandre Lacazette, made it 1-1 in the 88th with a glancing header into the bottom right corner.
Until then Arsenal had been staring at a second successive league defeat, after a stinging 3-1 loss to Manchester United at the Emirates last weekend.
Southampton had made a dream start with Charlie Austin grabbing his fourth goal in four league games with a third minute shot past Petr Cech after being fed through by Dusan Tadic.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will make a move next summer for Paris Saint Germain’s Goncalo Guedes as they look to rebuild after the departures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
Though Arsenal are also expected to make a fresh move for another left-sided attacking player in Thomas Lemar in January — though they will bid well below the £90 million (RM491 million) which was on offer in August — Guedes, 21, has also been identified to help fill the vacuum by the expected departure of the club’s best players next summer.
Guedes is on a season-long loan at Valencia where he has been instrumental in the club’s challenge to Barcelona in La Liga.
With PSG under pressure from UEFA to balance their books after committing to £366 million in transfer fees last summer in signing Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Arsenal are hopeful they can secure him from his parent club. Agencies