Giroud hits stunner to fire Arsenal
THE jury remains out on the first string but it would be awfully hard for Troy Deeney to criticise the ‘cojones’ of the back-up boys. Grubby wins in angry arenas are not achieved by the weak.
And make no mistake, this was a dogfight of a match, the sort of game where Arsenal teams are meant to stumble. But out of the Belgrade furnace came some fire needed to maintain their 100 per cent record in Group H.
The goal that did it was a thing of beauty in a game that did not deserve it, delivered by Olivier Giroud. He was struggling horribly, guilty of poor touches, pointless runs and one finish that was so bad people started laughing en masse.
But then, with 85 minutes gone and Red Star down to 10 men after Milan Rodic was dismissed for a second yellow, he arched his back and finished a fine move involving Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott, blasting the winner with an overhead kick. Stunning, absurd, brilliant, turning a decent result into a good one for a side who barely resembled anything Arsene Wenger might use in the Premier League.
The Arsenal boss made nine changes to the side who rolled over at Watford, with only Petr Cech and Mohamed Elneny retained and the latter switched to centre half next to Mathieu Debuchy. There was also a place for Wilshere, who must surely have earned his first appearance in the league after an impressive display.
In light of Deeney’s graphic observations that they lacked guts, among other things, against Watford, Arsenal delivered a fighting display and are now within a whisker of the knockout stages.
Wenger claimed vindication and while there was more than a whiff of truth to what Deeney had said, this was a night to give Arsenal’s manager his due.
He said: ‘In the end we got a win that gives credit to the mentality of the team. Overall the spirit we showed was remarkable, fighting together. They defended very well, with a lot of determination. But the goal was the consequence of us wanting to play through them.’
It was also the product of Giroud’s self-confidence after such a torrid performance. Wenger said: ‘He came to the touchline and told me, “We will score”. He knew more than I did. That’s Olivier Giroud. He keeps belief when it is tough. That’s why he scores at moments you don’t expect him to score.’