ON TOP DOWN UNDER
Giroud puts new boy Lacazette in shade
OLIVIER GIROUD is not ready to leave centre stage without a fight. And he delivered a message in Sydney to those who believe the curtain is about to fall on his Arsenal career. The French international is considered the man under threat with the arrival of £54million Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon. But when the pair played together for the first time in club colours at a packed ANC Stadium yesterday, Giroud took top billing. He scored a fine opening goal in front of 83,221 fans and led the line with power, while Lacazette – making his first start – operated down the left in the role usually taken by Alexis Sanchez. And it could be where he stays if the Chilean – on holiday in his homeland after playing in the Confederations Cup – refuses to accept a new deal, with Manchester City circling ready to swoop for his signature. Lacazette, who prefers to operate down the middle, showed pace and hunger to get forward and did enough to suggest good times might be ahead, dovetailing well with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Giroud also has suitors, with clubs both here and abroad monitoring events, but Arsenal will be foolish to let him leave. He offers Wenger options and his scoring record is not to be sniffed at. In a competitive game, Arsenal showed the kind of fight that they produced in beating Chelsea at Wembley to lift the FA Cup in May.
Western Sydney are nowhere near Chelsea’s class but they dug in and offered the kind of warm-up Arsenal need before they fly to China, where Bayern Munich and Chelsea lie in wait.
Giroud turned in Nacho Monreal’s cross to put Arsenal ahead in the 38th minute.
And Monreal – who l ooked classy throughout, showing why Real Madrid want his signature – then supplied a perfect long ball for Aaron Ramsey to race through and cleverly lob in a second.
Mohamed Elneny added the third in the 44th minute, his low shot deflecting in off Brendan Hamill.
The home side pulled one back in the 58th minute when Steven Lustica rammed in at the second attempt from a free-kick, after the Gunners’ substitute keeper Emiliano Martinez picked up Ramsey’s back-pass.