Olivier Giroud had a great start to 2017, scoring a scorpion goal for Arsenal which will live long in the memory.
These type of goals are rare but Giroud’s strike came a week after Henrikh Mkhitaryan had done similar for Manchester United. Both goals were superb but there will obviously be those who compare the two and want to pick the better one, and it can provide grounds for debate between Manchester United and Arsenal supporters.
Perhaps Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho can slug it out.
French newspaper L’Equipe have put it to Giroud that Mkhitaryan was offside when he scored his, to which the Arsenal player replied: “Yes, he’s offside and he didn’t clip the bar (laughs]. In the dressing room, the guys were shouting and said the one of Mkhitaryan was more beautiful, but no, mine is the most beautiful.”
After the match, Hector Bellerin said Giroud tries similar in Arsenal training, insinuating it wasn’t a surprise, but Giroud himself dismissed that: “No, no (smiles]. They asked Hector and it was nice he said I was trying. But hey, not really.”
There’s little chance of Giroud trying similar in Arsenal training going forward, because he feels it puts his hamstring under strain.
L’Equipe are clearly quite excited by the goal and have a double page spread celebrating Giroud’s ‘moment of magic’.