Arsenal: All Hail David Ospina And Olivier Giroud?
Arsenal’s match against PSG was not easy by any means and it took some rather interesting heroes to achieve the draw that saved the day.
I can still hear the shrieks of disbelief and cries of outrage. When Arsene Wenger revealed Arsenal‘s starting XI about 60 minutes before kickoff, I imagined Gunner fans around the globe venting their dismay.
Related: 5 Questions For Wenger Following PSG Draw
Among other questions: Why is Ospina in goal? Doesn’t Wenger remember last year, the Olympiacos debacle? Why would he play his backup against the toughest team in the group?
And why is Olivier Giroud not in the lineup? Theo is hurt, Alexis is clearly more effective on the outside, and Lucas is still using cheat-notes to remember his teammates’ names. Besides, against PSG won’t we need a target up field, a focal point for our attack?
About 60 minutes and 44 seconds after the lineup was announced, there was another round of howls when PSG landed a thundering studs-up kick to Arsenal’s belly: a first-minute goal from Cavani.
But today’s two rounds of groaning are not the shrieks and cries I alluded to in the opening sentence. Those sounds—the ones that still echo in my ears months after the fact—are from older, more vicious wails directed at Ospina and Giroud.
Almost exactly one year ago, when Arsenal played Dinamo Zagreb in last year’s opening match, Giroud incurred the wrath of Arsenal fans by picking up a second yellow card at the 40-minute mark. Predictably, it led to a loss.
But that was a mere warmup for leather-lunged Gooners. Two weeks later, the Gunners faced Olympiacos. Given the loss to Zagreb and back-to-back matches against Bayern Munich on the horizon, Arsenal desperately needed three points against the Greeks.
Many assumed that Petr Cech would be in goal for such a crucial game. But, no, it was Ospina…and just before halftime he fumbled a corner kick across his own line. It was one of the “own-est” own-goals ever witnessed.
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The reaction was swift and merciless. Ospina and Wenger were pilloried with every rude version of ‘Fool’ and ‘Idiot’ in the English language.
But, my, how things can change! If we’re going to rip a guy when he stumbles, we should give him full credit when credit is due. So it must be said: Ospina was nothing short of heroic against PSG. True, Cavani was a butcher. But watch the replays. Is it possible to play those chances any better than Ospina did?
Now, Giroud! In a reprise of his performance against Dinamo Zagreb, he drew two quick yellows and was sent off. Hilarious! However, the noteworthy thing is this: for a guy roundly disparaged by so many so often, he had a goodly number of people clamoring for Wenger to put him in.
Far more important, when he came on, the game undeniably took a turn for the better. He didn’t do anything remotely spectacular, but he occupied defenders, created some space, and allowed Alexis to play wide.
All in all, not a pretty performance by Arsenal. But they walked off with a precious point… thanks to David Ospina and (perhaps) Olivier Giroud.
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