Wenger is head over heels for Giroud
IN AN interminable game of patience, it was clear that Arsene Wenger had foolishly left himself without a single card to play.
Thank goodness for the Arsenal fans who travelled all the way to Serbia that the referee had one.
Out of nowhere, referee Benoit Bastien saw something in a nothing challenge between Milan Rodic and Francis Coquelin and played his joker – a second yellow card and a red for the Red Star defender.
It was the opening Arsenal needed to settle what looked set to be a goalless draw as they took advantage of a couple of minutes in which the home side did not know whether to stick or twist.
In the end, it was Jack Wilshere who provided the twist, Olivier Giroud made it stick, and Wenger came up trumps. Wilshere had again been flagging the longer the game dragged on but he picked himself up for one last sally on the Red Star goal, dragging the ball with him on his foot.
A skilful exchange with Theo Walcott culminated in Walcott heading the ball across for Giroud, though it held little promise as the France striker was having an off night.
Perhaps that was what he wanted Red Star to think – if so it was a remarkable bluff. Next moment, Giroud was spinning and flicking the ball over his head and into the top corner of the net.
What a time to pull that sort of ace from up your sleeve.
Wenger’s poker face finally broke into a smile. The winning goal had been a moment of collective brilliance from the three front men Wenger had put all his trust in and the three points was the vindication of his selection policy.
It had turned out you could have a virtually unrecognisable defence – midfielder Mohamed Elneny, rookie Rob Holding and long-term absentee Mathieu Debuchy – if you had Wilshere, Walcott and Giroud at the other end.
But, boy, when you leave yourself with nothing on the bench to win a game, you have to be prepared to sit it out. A goalless draw seemed the only thing on the cards.
An enthusiastic but limited Red Star team looked well worth a point they would have cherished against what is still seen as one of Europe’s elite teams, even in their new-found home of the Europa League.
Early respect had handed Walcott two clear chances, both of which he dithered over and the second of which ended with a particularly weak shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Then, midway through the first half, the home side found their feet, Richmond Boakye forcing Petr Cech into a brilliant near-post save and then hitting a post with a downward header.
In between the two incidents, Boakye had raised his arm in a bid to get the crowd going – as if they needed encouragement.
From the first whistle 50,000 Serbian voices had filled the night sky in this vast open bowl of an arena. Locally the Rajko Mitic Stadium is known as the Marakana – a Serbian tribute to Brazil’s iconic mecca.
And Wenger’s team of kids were learning to grow up fast.
Largely, they stood up to the task, although Ainsley Maitland-Niles was somewhat on his heels when he allowed a good cross from the right to pick out Nemanja Radonjic.
The Red Star playmaker composed himself and shot powerfully, only for Cech to save and Reiss Nelson’s quickthinking enabled him to block the attempt by the same player to convert the rebound.
Elneny’s last-ditch tackle prevented Nenad Krsticic from giving Red Star the lead straight after the break and Arsenal never looked less like scoring than when Giroud failed to react at all to Walcott’s sharp cross which bobbled tamely off his shins.
Cech continued his strong form, denying Krsticic and Radonjic in turn as the hosts pressed for a famous victory.
But in the end, it all came down to the turn of that single card as Giroud delivered the decisive blow. RED STAR (4-2-3-1): Borjan; Stojkovic, Le Tallec, Savic (Babic 65), Rodic; Krsticic, Donald; Srnic (Gobeljic 83), Kanga, Radonjic; Boakye (Pesic 80). Booked: Rodic, Boakye, Le Tallec, Borjan, Babic. Sent off: Rodic 80. ARSENAL (3-4-2-1): Cech; Debuchy, Elneny, Holding; Nelson, Coquelin (Sheaf 89), Willock (McGuane 89), Maitland-Niles; Wilshere, Walcott; Giroud. Booked: Wilshere, Nelson. Goal: Giroud 85. Referee: B Bastien (France).