But Giroud sees red as Arsenal crash
WENGER’S FLOPS MAKE NIGHTMARE START
Off you go: Giroud is dismissed in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat
An earth tremor in Zagreb failed to trouble arsenal on the eve of this game but they suffered an aftershock and Olivier Giroud’s self-control disintegrated.
he was sent off five minutes before half-time for the second of two needless yellow cards as the european campaign started with defeat for arsene Wenger’s team.
arsenal were already trailing by the time a lazy tackle prompted Giroud’s dismissal, soon after his first booking for dissent. he trudged off complaining about the injustice while Wenger fumed.
‘the sending-off was very harsh,’ he said. ‘Yes, he was rash. the first yellow is Giroud’s fault because he protested. even if it was not a foul against him, he should not have responded to the referee. the second, he is unlucky to touch the guy. I don’t understand the referee. It was accidental.’
the manager grumbled into the ear of the fourth official but privately he must have been furious with the France forward he had restored to the side.
Dinamo Zagreb stretched their lead soon after the break and hung on, despite a late goal by theo Walcott. as wild celebrations unfolded in the Maksimir Stadium, arsenal filed off with heads bowed, having handed the initiative to Bayern Munich in Group F and surrendered momentum ahead of Saturday’s derby at Chelsea.
Wenger ought to be taking his team across London in confident mood, not nursing wounds.
But he accepted some blame for the wholesale team changes which helped Dinamo extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 42 matches and record their first victory in the Champions League since the turn of the century.
‘When you don’t win you have to look at yourself and think you haven’t got it right,’ said Wenger. ‘I don’t believe the players who came in had a bad game but it didn’t work. We lacked cohesion in some situations. We were not at our best but nor was the referee. We can still qualify without any problem.’
With Chelsea in mind, Wenger made six changes to the team that beat Stoke on Saturday. David Ospina, Mikel arteta and Kieran Gibbs started their first games of the season. hector Bellerin and aaron ramsey stayed at home, and Petr Cech sat on the bench.
Giroud replaced Walcott up front and he attracted the early chances. he forced the first save of the night from goalkeeper eduardo, with a firm header from a corner taken by Santi Cazorla. he was then closed out by Leonardo Sigali, after a good approach from alexis Sanchez, and hit a post. When the rebound spilled back his way, he was denied again by the keeper.
Giroud was unable to contain his frustration. he was booked for dissent when a free-kick went against him, and it soon got worse for arsenal.
el arbi hillel Soudani slid a pass behind Mathieu Debuchy to release Josip Pivaric on goal. Ospina dashed out to save from the left back but the ricochet crashed into alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and flew into the net. after some confusion, UeFa awarded the goal to Pivaric. It was the first conceded by arsenal for a month. Wenger claimed it was offside.
Debuchy and arteta were badly off the pace in the opening half, and the goal lifted the home crowd.
Up went the volume another notch when Giroud was dismissed for a second yellow card, given for a trip from behind on Ivo Pinto. It may have been an innocuous foul, but referee Ovidiu hategan judged it to be cynical.
Dinamo ought to have tightened their grip soon after the restart when Soudani missed a sitter from close range.
the algeria international tarnished an excellent personal display by heading against a post from only two yards when a corner was flicked his way. Soudani also screwed the rebound wide and arsenal escaped briefly.
Debuchy, who continued to struggle, made a terrific block to thwart Junior Fernandes, but arsenal could not keep out the same player from the corner which followed.
Fernandes attacked the ball at the near post and crashed a header past Ospina.
Wenger made three changes in a bid to rescue something from the match, sending on Walcott, Francis Coquelin and Joel Campbell.
Walcott, who scored a hat-trick for england on his previous visit to this venue, struck 11 minutes from time with a clinical finish after accelerating on to a pass from Sanchez.
this time, however, there were no further heroics from the Zagreb dynamo.