” Na na na na Giroud ”
That was the chant ringing around the Emirates after Oliver Giroud produced a sensational and outrageous piece of skill to score a scorpion-like goal flicking the ball into the top corner.
Arsenal were up against Crystal Palace at the Emirates and the Gunners began the game in 5th place with Tottenham moving ahead of them with their win at Vicarage Road and that meant a win was paramount or they risked falling 12 points behind Chelsea.
In the absence of Ozil who was declared unwell by the manager prior to the start, Giroud was tasked with leading the line with Sanchez on the left and Alex Iwobi playing in the number 10 position and new signing Lucas Perez on the right. It seemed to be a particularly direct Arsenal side with Giroud as the target man and pure pace behind him.
Arsenal’s play was very much direct and their strategy was to find player on the flank racing behind the opposition defense with long balls from the defense. With the Gunners seeing most of the ball in the first half, they really should have had the first goal when Giroud and Perez both missed a tap-in the first few minutes of the game, they had to wait until just the 17th minute to get their first .
Starting only his second league game of the season, Oliver Giroud opened up the scoring with a sensation geometry defying goal from an Alexis Sanchez cross. It was the Frenchman himself who had started the move with a sweeping counter attack by flicking the ball in midfield and then running into the box where he astonishingly back heeled the ball as it looped past Wayne Hennessey. Producing an extraordinary moment of magic Oliver just put his name up for the goal of the year contender and theres just 363 more days to go.
His goal is what makes a football fan turn up to the stadium, the thrill, the excitement, the moment of magic that is what people come to see. For Arsenal fans it was one of those ‘I was there moments’ on New Years day something they will go on to tell their sons and daughters that they were present at the moment when Oliver Giroud scored ‘that goal’, something which they will love recounting as long as they can and feel that sense of pride in saying that it had happened in front of their eyes 50 yards in front of them. It was so good that Arsene Wenger went on to establish it as the ‘Oliver Giroud Goal ‘ saying it will stay with him forever. Here’s what he had to say :
You cannot work on that in training. It’s just a reflex.
I think it was an exceptional goal because it was at the end of a fantastic collective moment, which is what our game is about. After that, it was a reflex that any goalscorer is able to take any part of his body, even if it is a little toe, to score a goal.
I think Olivier had that kind of reflex.
He transformed that goal into art – because of the surprise, because of the beauty of the movement and because of the efficiency.
That will be remembered as the Giroud goal that nobody will forget. Every striker is certainly remembered for one, two or three special goals – and that will certainly be with him forever.
Arsene Wenger who undoubtedly has had a feast of goals to watch and a host of legendary strikers to train in his glittering career as our manager places his goal amongst the top 5 goals of his life along with the goals of Henry , Bergkamp and Kanu saying :
I’ve been spoilt in my career, because I’ve had many great players and many great strikers. That is certainly in the top five.
I remember Bergkamp, Henry… these special goals, you know. Bergkamp at Leicester, at Newcastle. Thierry Henry against Real Madrid, against Liverpool – these kind of goals. Kanu at Chelsea!
That is some elite company to keep for the man
As for Oliver such was the class in his achievement that it promises to Eulogize his name for decades to come as the man to have scored that goal and for now makes him the toast of the world . And the man prefers to call his moment of brilliance as ‘maximum luck’
Speaking to the media after the match this is how he explains his emotions while scoring his goal:
I go first post and Alexis give me the ball a bit behind me and I tried to take it from back heel and I have maximum luck. It’s just about luck, I was not good balance. It was a great feeling and even more because I wanted to score from the first minute from the natural cross and it was a bit short. That’s why I really wanted to score…
And for the comparisons being make with Mikhitaryan’s Goal last week
It wasnt 4 yard offside thats for sure ……..
