Giroud lifts Chelsea

Chelsea edged closer to a Champions League place next season when they overcame already relegated Norwich City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge last night. Olivier Giroud’s goal, in first-half added time, consolidated Chelsea in third place in the table, with two matches remaining.

Chelsea looked high and low for a striker to fire them into the Champions League during the January transfer window, yet the man for the job proved to be right under their noses.

Olivier Giroud might now be trying to rescue Tottenham Hotspur’s season had Chelsea been offered any encouragement over their interest in Edinson Cavani and Dries Mertens.

But Giroud has since become the man Chelsea have increasingly relied on to get them the goals to shake off the nerves and keep them on course to compete in Europe’s top competition next season.

The Frenchman’s latest goal, against relegated Norwich City, means he has scored in six of the eight Premier League games he has started in 2020, four of which have come since the restart.

Frank Lampard, the head coach, will know that Giroud should have probably finished the game with a hat-trick, but it did not matter too much in the end as Chelsea gave themselves some breathing space in the top-four race with Leicester City, Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Chelsea could not afford another slip after losing at Sheffield United on Saturday, particularly as their final two Premier League games are against Liverpool and Wolves.

The fact that United have to visit Leicester on the final day means that Chelsea, four points ahead of both teams, now hold all the aces in the battle to join Liverpool and

Stooping to conquer: Olivier Giroud scores the winner past Norwich keeper Tim Krul

hours earlier, Giroud scored for Chelsea in time added on at the end of the first half against a Norwich side who must have thought they had weathered the storm.

Giroud’s inclusion ahead of Tammy Abraham was one of five changes Lampard made to the team that were so easily beaten at Bramall Lane, and the decision paid off as the World Cup winner got in between Ben Godfrey and Timm Klose to head in Pulisic’s cross.

Giroud screamed in what looked like sheer relief at making up for his earlier misses and giving Chelsea the advantage they deserved.

The first of his squandered opportunities came when Jorginho flighted a lobbed pass over the Norwich defence, but Giroud could only clumsily shin the ball into the grateful arms of Krul.

Then, on the half-hour mark, the Chelsea striker missed an even better chance as he scuffed a cross wide after being picked out by Cesar Azpilicueta’s smart cut back.

Before setting up Giroud for the chance he finally took, Pulisic almost opened the scoring himself with a superb shot on the turn that Krul brilliantly tipped on to the top of his crossbar. From the resulting corner, Kurt Zouma headed wide.

Buoyed by Giroud’s goal shortly before the interval, Chelsea were out early for the second half and clearly wanted to try to kill the game off as quickly as possible. Antonio Rudiger headed a Willian corner wide, before Giroud was off target from another well delivered set-piece.

There was concern on the bench when Ruben Loftus-cheek collapsed to the ground following a challenge from Todd Cantwell, for which the Norwich midfielder was booked, and that quickly turned to anger as Norwich briefly probed.

Lampard let out a loud expletive as his side gave the ball away in midfield a couple of times in quick succession, and he sent on Ross Barkley to replace Loftus-cheek just after Pulisic had curled a shot over the bar.

Giroud steered yet another header wide from Azpilicueta’s cross, and Pulisic forced Krul to save well low to his left after the former Arsenal man had picked out his team-mate superbly.

There was still time for Giroud to go close once again, before he was replaced by Abraham, as he slid the ball wide from a Willian cross. He was not on the pitch when substitute Reece James flashed the ball in front of goal but nobody was there to divert it.

Norwich did not manage a shot on target, such was Chelsea’s domination, and yet the relief from the bench was tangible when the final whistle went. Lampard knows he is now on the brink of completing what would be a hugely impressive achievement at the end of his first season in charge.