BEARDED WONDERS
Giroud and Austin are the hairy heroes who deliver in wintry chill
All hail the big man with the beard who thrives in the wintry chill and always seems to deliver.
At Southampton it is Charlie Austin, who scored his fourth goal in a fortnight to prove he is back in the groove and able to propel his team away from relegation trouble.
At Arsenal it is Olivier Giroud, who climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Arsene Wenger’s team in the final minutes. Giroud sprang above Maya Yoshida to glance a cross by Alexis Sanchez past Fraser Forster for his 17th Premier league goal as a substitute.
More crucially, Giroud salvaged a point, ensured Arsenal would avoid back-to-back defeats in the league and reminded his manager of the value of his aerial presence.
‘He is important and why should we lose an important player?’ said Wenger when asked if Giroud might head for the exit when the transfer market opens next month.
Everton and West Ham are interested, having failed to sign him in the summer, and the France striker wants regular football to secure a place at the World Cup.
‘He will start games because we play every three days,’ Wenger added. ‘It is always the same, when you have many good players some of them cannot play. Simple as that.
‘He is mentally very strong and we have to be grateful to a player who comes on when he is needed. It is a remarkable achievement.’
Arsenal spent almost the entire second half in Southampton territory and yet barely tested goalkeeper Forster. At the same time, they were vulnerable on the counter-attack and Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino was left to rue missed opportunities to secure the victory.
‘We had five or six clear chances and that’s not easy against Arsenal,’ said Pellegrino. ‘We didn’t control the ball but we controlled the game against a team of great quality and created more clear chances.’
Oriol Romeu struck the bar with a fierce 25-yarder and Ryan Bertrand went close, but Southampton could not add to Austin’s strike.
Per Mertesacker, deputising for Shkodran Mustafi in Arsenal’s defence, clubbed an attempted clearance to Austin, who traded passes with Dusan Tadic, timed his run to perfection to collect the return and produced a clinical finish.
A flick with the outside of his right boot lifted the ball over Petr Cech as the goalkeeper dashed from his line.
Wenger claimed the memory of defeat by Manchester United in their previous league outing had been to blame for such a poor start at St Mary’s. The visitors gradually exerted control after the interval. Wenger called for a penalty when Alexandre lacazette was cut down by a reckless Yoshida slide a split-second after flashing a shot over the bar. The Arsenal boss also grumbled about the time- wasting of Pellegrino’s team, just as Pep Guardiola did when Manchester City struggled to break down Saints last month.
‘This has become a real problem in England in the last two seasons,’ said Wenger. ‘It has to be in the heads of the players to respect the game and to play. And then it is up to the referees to act.’
Arsenal have won only two of eight away games in the Premier league this season and have scored only nine goals, five of them on one day at Everton in October.
Problems on the road are proving costly and Wenger tinkered from the touchline in search of a solution. On went Danny Welbeck to replace Mertesacker and Arsenal switched a back three for a back four. Then on went Jack Wilshere.
Ultimately, it was Giroud who made the difference in the 88th minute with a simple goal after the intricate patterns of passes and flicks and feints had got them nowhere.
‘I’m not happy with the point because I wanted three, but if you cannot win it, don’t lose it, and we kept going,’ said Wenger.