Firstly, an apology for a lack of blog
after the West Brom win. I picked up a rather un-classy illness over Christmas
so was unable to write anything after the game. Normal order has been restored
though, and it comes with something extraordinary to write about.
Through a combination of the opposition
and the injuries to Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud finally got
his opportunity to start a Premier League this season on Boxing Day, and he
took it with a superb header to seal the win late on against West Brom. It was
a goal no other player in the squad is likely to have scored in the way Giroud
fought off the center-back and headed the ball beyond the goalkeeper. But
better was to come at the end of the week. Giroud isn’t just about strength as
a big center-forward. He has some subtle and, at times, sublime touches as
well.
In the 17th minute against Crystal Palace
on New Year’s Day, Lucas Perez intercepted a cross-field pass, allowing Hector
Bellerin to find Giroud with his back-to-goal and in his own half. The
Frenchman flicked the ball into the path of Granit Xhaka, who then released the
pace of Iwobi and Alexis on the counter-attack. Iwobi fed the Chilean, who had
Giroud thundering into the penalty area to complete the counter-attack. Alexis’
cross was slightly behind the Frenchman, but it only led to a more spectacular
goal.
How Giroud finished it is hard to explain
and do justice to it. Call it a scorpion kick, call it whatever. It was just
instinctive brilliance. Giroud used all of his athleticism to hook the ball
with his heel from behind him, planting the ball over the goalkeeper and in off
the underside of the bar, instantly improving it as a goal.
It was a truly breathtaking moment that
made you wonder if it had actually happened. The big screen replays in the
stadium confirmed that it was real, and as much as we celebrated going 1-0 up,
the fans rose to just applaud the magnificence of the goal. It was one of those
rare moments where you have an overriding sense of privilege that you’d been able
to witness such a special moment. Forget the opposition, forget the position in
the league table, forget what competition that match was in. As a pure
footballing moment, that goal was truly wonderful.
The unsurprising debate surfaced over
whether Giroud’s effort was better than the similar goal scored by Mkhitaryan
for Manchester United on Boxing Day, and while the Armenian’s goal was superb,
what made Giroud’a extra special was that it came at the end of a sweeping
counter-attack that had earlier been blessed by Giroud’s initial back-heeled
flick. It was a brilliant team goal that was finished by a moment of indiviual
inspiration.
There has been discussion about where the
goal sits in the pantheon of great Arsenal goals. In the modern, social media
era, it is easy to overhype goals that make great vines and go viral on
Twitter, but this goal will stand the test of time as one of the best in the
Premier League. Choosing a number one for Arsenal is nigh on impossible, but
Giroud’s effort deserves to the be mentioned in the same breath as Bergkamp
against Leicester and Newcastle, Henry against Manchester United, Liverpool and
Tottenham, and Kanu against Chelsea.
Everything else in the game on Sunday was
always going to be a slight disappointment after such a wonderous goal graced
the game so early, but the 2-0 win was fully merited for Arsenal and contained
plenty of positives. With Mesut Ozil unavailable through illness, Alex Iwobi
shone playing in the number 10 role. He always plays with his head up and looks
to play a forward pass, plus he can be a dangerous runner going forward to
support the striker. It was a very mature performance from the youngster, and
one he capped with a clever cushioned header over the goalkeeper to double the
lead in the second half.
Alexis was his usual energetic self, while
the full-backs got forward well and, on the whole, dealt with the threat posed
by Crystal Palace’s two wingers; Zaha and Townsend. Gabriel quietly had an
excellent game alongside Koscielny, while Petr Cech produced a few excellent
saves when called upon.
But the other real stand-out performance
came from Granit Xhaka in central midfield. His range of passing is
exceptional, and he displayed the full repertoire on Sunday. Almost like an NFL
quarter-back, Xhaka was able to thread some beautiful passes through the
channels, particularly for Alexis Sanchez. Arsene Wenger often says it takes
half a season for newcomers to the Premier League to get up to speed, and the
Swiss international looks like he has completed his bedding-in period and is
controlling games superbly.
But for all the other good performances,
the game will only be remembered for one thing, the majestic moment from
Olivier Giroud. The stupid schedule means that Arsenal have a day off and go
straight into a big away game with Bournemouth on Tuesday, and it does leave
little time to revel in that goal. So before the serious stuff gets going again
on Tuesday night, go back to watching it.
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