Last night (wrote this on Friday) Arsenal took on BATE Borisov in the Europa league, and it proved to be a historical night. Arsenal beat the Belarusian side 4-2 however the bigger story was for the 19th time in club history an Arsenal player reached the century mark for goals. Olivier Giroud stepped up to a spot kick in the second half of what was a thoroughly entertaining, open game and slotted it cooly into the bottom corner of the net sending the keeper the wrong way to put Arsenal up 4-1 at the time. Celebrations were quite subdued but it must've been a relief for the frenchman who had been sitting on 99 goals since his heroic game winner against Leicester in the first game of the Premier League. 7 games and a month and a half later he had finally done it. He said after the game, "Yes, I'm very proud of that, it's been a few weeks. To be honest with you I was expecting this goal, but sometimes you shoot without looking and it goes in, while sometimes you are strugling a lottle more with bad luck or misfortune. I'm glad and I'm happy for myself and hopefully more will come."
Giroud's time at the club has been divisive to say the least. He came to the club with the burden of being the striker to replace Robin Van Persey, no easy task. He had just won the Ligue 1 title with Montpellier in a season which he was excellent. He was named the leagues top scorer, netting 21 goals and creating another 9 for his teammates. As the focal point of their attack, he big reason why they took the title that season. He had some truly fantastic finishes and two hat-tricks that season and earned himself a move to The Emirates. He arrived to little fanfare as few were aware of his exploits the season before and had a price tag of 13 mil, hardly something to get excited over. When he got off to an agonizingly slow start, missing several sitters, questions of his finishing began to be asked. Ultimately labeled as a poor finisher, he's never been able to shake it. People have debated if he should be a starter for the club or even at the club despite being one of the most consistent performers. He's played a part in some of the best goals you will ever see on a football pitch during his time at Arsenal. Wilshere's goal against Norwich and his sublime scorpion finish against Crystal Palace last year come to mind. Interestingly enough, his first season with the club he managed 17 goals and 11 assists. Hardly a measly contribution, but it's never been enough for many supporters.
During the summer Giroud was linked with a move away from the club but I for one am happy the Frenchman decided to add another chapter to his Arsenal story as he put it. He is an incredibly valuable asset to have coming regularly off the bench and provides the intangible senior figure leadership for the dressing room. He's a proven goal scorer and you can alway count on him giving his all for the club. The occasional worldie he has in his locker isn't all that terrible either. So congrats to Goalivier on becoming a centurion and long may his goal scoring continue!
-Best Coast Gunner
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