Olivier Giroud’s goal for the ages lifts Arsenal to third
His sizzling scorpion volley and an Alex Iwobi header sent Arsenal back above Tottenham into third position, but if they are to catch Chelsea in the title race, they realistically need four more straight wins before they go to Stamford Bridge on 4 February.
Giroud modestly played down his goal afterwards, claiming there might have been an element of luck, but it was clearly deliberate and there was nothing fortunate about this victory.
The French forward said: “It is not difficult to say it is the best goal I have ever scored. I was a bit lucky but it was the only thing I could do, the ball was behind me and I tried to hit it with a back heel.
“Maybe [Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s] goal inspired me, it’s the only thing you can do in that position. It is nice for me and the team because we start the year with a win.
“We were struggling a bit when we came back from the dressing room for the second half, so it was nice to finish off the game and keep the ball.
“We have a few games to come before the very important Chelsea one so we want to to keep winning before we go to Stamford Bridge.”
A smiling Arsene Wenger said: “I have been spoilt over the years with all the great strikers — Bergkamp, Henry. You remember them because they are linked with special goals. This will be the Giroud goal forever.
“It was a great counter-attack at great speed, his reflex surprised everybody who knows football and that’s what makes the goal great.”
This was such an emphatic win against a struggling Sam Allardyce Crystal Palace side which now sits just two points and one place above the relegation zone.
But Wenger’s men now need to match this New Year’s Day performance with similar displays at Bournemouth tomorrow night and then against Swansea, Burnley and Watford before the end of the month.
Arsenal’s day started badly when it emerged Mesut Ozil would miss the match, and possibly the fixture at Bournemouth, through illness. Maybe the German feels the need for a mini winter break.
Either way, it left Wenger scrambling for options with Theo Walcott already ruled out through injury and Santi Cazorla still months away from returning.
And it initially looked as though Giroud might as well have joined the sick list when he swung and missed the ball entirely with the goal at his mercy from a perfectly placed low cross from Nacho Monreal.
Lucas Perez, in for Walcott, then failed to connect as the ball ran to home at the far post and Mohamed Elneny had a shot tipped over the bar as he tried to salvage something from an attack which should have resulted in them taking an early lead.
Arsenal were rampant now and Alexis Sanchez hit a shot with such venom he burst the ball. Fortunately, for Palace, he was a couple of feet off target too.
Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey must have been the warmest player on the pitch as he was in relentless action on a wet and cold north London early evening. His next action was a tidy low save from an Iwobi goal-bound shot.
Allardyce cut a disgruntled figure, hands tucked into his knee-length duvet coat and club beanie hat, pacing the edge of his technical area.
But there was nothing he nor Hennessy could do to stop the almost unbelievable effort from Giroud in the 17th minute.
Lucas started it off deep in Arsenal’s own half by dispossessing former Gunner Mathieu Flamini. That sparked a one-touch counter attack as Hector Bellerin, Giroud, Granit Xhaka, Iwobi and Sanchez all connected.
The Chilean’s cross then seemed to be too far behind the French forward, but he adjusted his footing to launch into full scorpion mode and his thunderous left-foot reverse overhead kick crashed in off the underside of the Palace bar.
It was a remarkable goal in any circumstance, made even more unlikely by his desperate miss just 10 minutes before. Mkhitaryan recently scored a similar effort, but that instantly tumbled down the pecking order of great goals this season.
The man on the receiving end, Hennessey, said: “It was a wonder goal. There seems to be a lot of wonder goals going in recently. I haven’t seen it again but it’s hit the bar and gone in so it’s a fantastic strike from him.”
The visiting supporters saw the funny side of it though, launching into a rousing rendition of ‘we’ve had a shot on target’ when Yohan Cabaye finally trickled an effort towards Petr Cech’s goal seven minutes before half-time.
As good as Arsenal were there was a sense they would pay for missing chances as Sanchez ended the first half being denied by yet another good Hennessey save. Those fears were almost realised in the first minute after the restart when Christian Benteke headed narrowly wide when he should have scored. Arsenal responded with another flurry of attacks and their incessant passing eventually paid off in the 57th minute when Iwobi scored a header after Scott Dann failed to deal with another Monreal cross following a Sanchez through ball.
Surely Palace were done for now?
But, bizarrely, the goal sparked their best spell of the match as Arsenal foolishly eased off and Cech had to make four good saves in quick succession before his team-mates regained their composure and control of the match.
Cech 7; Bellerin 7, Gabriel 6, Koscielny 7, Monreal 7; Elneny 7 (Coquelin 72, 6), Xhaka 8; Lucas 6 (Ramsey 72, 6), Alexis 7, Iwobi 7 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 77, 6); Giroud 8.
Ospina, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi.
Hennessey; Kelly, Dann, Tomkins, Ward; Cabaye 5 (Mutch 66, 6), Flamini 6; Puncheon 5; Townsend 5 (Lee 71, 6), Zaha 5; Benteke 5 (Campbell 77, 6).
Speroni, Michael Phillips, Husin, Sako.
Andre Marriner 6
Bergkamp completed his hat-trick with a show of sublime control and finishing at Filbert Street in a 3-3 draw
With back to goal, the Dutchman put the ball one side of Nikos Dabizas, picked up the far side and beat Shay Given in a 2-0 win at St James’ Park.
Henry ghosted past a host of Madrid’s galacticos before firing past Iker Casillas in a 1-0 Champions League win at the Bernabeu
Henry weaved his way through the Liverpool defence before finishing, as his hat-trick helped the Gunners to a crucial 4-2 win.
The Nigerian completed a 15-minute hat-trick in injury time with a finish from a near-impossible angle as Arsenal came from behind to inflict a 3-2 derby defeat on Chelsea.
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