Olivier Giroud has received copious amounts of criticism throughout his career, his detractors bemoaning his inconsistent scoring rate.
Giroud, as he so often does, silenced the haters once again on Tuesday night, netting a sublime bicycle kick to hand Chelsea the advantage in their last-16 Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid.
In homage to his quality, we thought the Frenchman merited his own list of stunning strikes. Read on below for our ranking of Giroud’s finest finishes so far.
Olivier Giroud: Top Ten Goals
10) Sevilla v Chelsea – December 2020
We kick off this list with the type of goal that has become Giroud’s trademark; a header.
Although it was not the most magnificent goal he has scored, this goal serves as a timely reminder of his quality. After towering home against Sevilla, Giroud completed the perfect hat-trick: left foot, right foot, header.
Those who have labelled him as ‘dusted’ should sweep those thoughts under the carpet, so wrong were they proved before Christmas in Seville.
9) Liverpool v Arsenal – January 2016
In a hectic encounter at Anfield, Giroud stamped his mark on the game with a wonderful curled finish past Simon Mignolet after the striker’s first touch had taken two Liverpool defenders out of the game in an instant.
Any hopes of a first league win away to Liverpool since September 2012 (a record that still stands) were banished when, in the deepest, darkest crevices of stoppage time, Joe Allen salvaged a leveller for the Reds to ensure this game’s status as a modern Premier League classic.
8) Arsenal v West Ham – March 2015
As an uneventful London derby was drifting along to a half-time stalemate, Arsenal fans began to trudge towards the concourse, preparing to scowl into their pints at the interval.
However, with the last kick of the first half, Giroud arrowed an arching drive into the top corner that Henry V’s longbowmen would have applauded in admiration. After Giroud’s strike won that game 3-0 for the Gunners, they were in third place at the time. Leicester City were bottom and seven points from safety.
How times have changed.
7) Arsenal v Manchester United – November 2014
It was a superb hit that perhaps deserves to be higher on this list. You might think a half-volley from outside the box would do better on a goals ranking list.
However, two key factors means this goal comes in at number seven. Firstly, the manner in which David de Gea palmed the ball right into the top corner actually made the attempt look more accurate than it originally was. Secondly, it would have likely been a stunning winner one of their previous 22 shots on goal had found the back of the net, so wasteful were Giroud’s team-mates in front of goal on that November night.
6) MOL Vidi v Chelsea – December 2018
The Frenchman ensured a Europa League dead rubber had reason to be remembered when he hit a 25-yard free-kick so accurately that not even a Vidi defender positioned on the line could stop the ball from hitting the bullseye in the top left-hand corner.
Olivier Giroud hasn’t exactly made a name for himself as an expert exponent of the free-kick, but at least France fans have never seen their main striker taking corners. Why Roy Hodgson put Harry Kane will forever be a mystery just as much as Euro 2016 will forever be a mess.
5) Crystal Palace v Arsenal – August 2015
Known for his acrobatic as well as aerial ability, on the evidence of this goal, Giroud could have got the part as one of The Weeknd’s lead dancers for his recent Super Bowl half-time show.
A floated ball in by Mesut Ozil was slightly too far behind Giroud, who managed to re-adjust his body position as the cross arrived at pace and connect with a left-footed scissor kick. Poor Wayne Hennessey had no chance.
4) Chelsea v Southampton – April 2018
Fans have often Giroud’s lack of big game prowess, arguing that he disappears down a warren when it matters most.
In this FA Cup semi-final against Southampton, he demonstrated the slaloming ability of a hyper Duracell bunny, twisting this way and that to leave the Saints defence with broken ankles before calmly dinking home past Alex McCarthy.
3) Sweden v France – June 2017
Deserving of a place in the top three not just because it’s one of Big Oli’s lesser-known belters, this goal against Sweden was an absolute corker.
Controlling a bouncing ball on the left-hand edge of the penalty area, the centre-forward casually flicked the ball up with his left peg then, with all the gusto of an angry Zeus fed up at humanity, unleashed a curling thunderbolt that swerved in at searing pace. What a hit son. What. A. Hit.
2) Arsenal v Crystal Palace – January 2017
‘New Year, new me’, as the saying goes. Everyone says it, but very few follow up with the actions to prove it.
Well, if Giroud made a resolution to score more spectacular goals in 2017, then he accomplished it with first-class honours. Alexis Sanchez‘s cross seemed to be going nowhere. The weight of the delivery all wrong, there was no chance a goal could come from this.
That was until Giroud released the mother of all scorpion kicks to score off the underside of the bar. Poor old Palace must have been sick of the sight of him.
1) Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea – February 2021
We can all be honest now that the game is over. Nobody apart from Chelsea fans gave the side from SW6 a chance of beating Atletico Madrid. Top of La Liga, with Luis Suarez and a typically well-drilled defence, Diego Simeone’s men looked destined to dominate. However, not even Atleti could plan for a moment of magic as mesmerising as this.
Play was breaking up just as Mason Mount was on the charge. A good chance looked to be gone. But then, as the ball ballooned in the air, Giroud pounced.
Positioning himself between two centre-backs, he didn’t just get a clean strike away. Oh no. He connected with it so purely that even Jan Oblak, one of the finest shot-stoppers around, was left sprawling at thin air. Take a bow, Olivier Giroud, and milk the applause because tonight, the show was yours.
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