You do not have to be a Chelsea fan to love Olivier Giroud.
Is it his ability to produce highlights in a roll? Is it because he seems to be criminally underestimated? Is that his wonderfully maintained beard? We have no idea, but we absolutely love the man.
Olivier Giroud is on his way out of Chelsea / Marc Atkins / Getty Images
The French freight forwarder is about to break our hearts by securing a move to Milan and lowering the curtain on a glorious nine-year spell in England.
He can leave England without a Premier League winning medal on his mantle, but his time on these beaches has certainly not been deprived of silver, and the memories he leaves us with will be cherished forever – okay, it gets a little weird now.
Anyway, before we start crying (again), here’s a look back at the best moments of Giroud’s time in England. So tall, cute bearded prince.
1️⃣ Left foot2️⃣ Right foot3️⃣ Header
A perfect hat trick for Olivier Giroud when Chelsea stumble upon a 5-0 victory in Kiev!
He is now a Europa League top scorer with 9️⃣ goals. pic.twitter.com/c2VBOfaaHI
– Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 14, 2019
Giroud scored some huge goals for Chelsea on the way to Europa League success in 2019, including the opener against his old team Arsenal in the final.
The Blues had a couple of tricky assignments on the way to the final, but they did easy work by Dynamo Kiev in the round of 16.
With a 3-0 victory from the first stage, Maurizio Sarris’ side traveled to Ukraine aware that they already had a foot in the quarterfinals, but Giroud was not content to endure a stalemate.
The Frenchman produced a perfect hat-trick when his side stormed to a 5-0 victory and showed their predatory instincts to score with the left and then the right before a brilliant nod to complete the job.
Making a perfect hat trick is decent, but doing a perfect hat trick and then taking a fourth goal is even better.
Once again, Giroud was the key to Chelsea’s triumphant European campaign, with his four-goal trip away to Sevilla in group sequences, which ensured that the Blues would finish top of their group and then get a so-called “easier” draw in the first knockout. the round.
After opening the scoring for the first eight minutes with a typically brilliant strike, Giroud doubled his and Chelsea’s speeches for the night with a sweet chip over the goalkeeper.
The frontman finished his perfect hat trick with a great header before then scoring from the penalty spot to complete his emphatic four-pointer.
After failing to secure a trophy during his first year with Arsenal, Giroud finally got his hands on a silver cutlery when the Gunners were crowned FA winners in 2014.
Although he went into the game as big favorites, Arsene Wenger’s side fell two goals behind in the opening eight minutes after goals from James Chester and Curtis Davies gave Hull a leading lead.
The Arsenal defender was launched a few minutes later when Santi Cazorla pulled one back, before Laurent Koscielny equalized with 20 minutes to play.
When the game was forced into extra time, Giroud played a full 120 minutes as Aaron Ramsey secured a late winner who handed the trophy to Arsenal.
Despite the joy of winning an FA Cup, Giroud will no doubt have been disappointed not to have got his name on the points side against Hull.
But the following year, he put it right when he scored his side’s final goal of the game in the dying fervor against Aston Villa. The strike was a typical Giroud goal when he stole a yard on his marker before hitting a sweet front post after Shay Given.
The game had long been put to bed before that time, with Theo Walcott, Alexis Sánchez and Per Mertesacker putting the Gunners 3-0 before Giroud added brilliance to his second FA Cup final victory.
This day 2017 Olivier Giroud scored ???? scorpion kick against Crystal Palace. ? pic.twitter.com/BhrKJlTAwT
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) January 1, 2021
We all remember this goal.
Obviously, the team performance is fantastic, but if you were asked about Giroud in ten years, your mind would be immediately drawn back to this goal.
It may not have been a particularly high stakes effort, but Giroud’s incredible scorpion kick against Crystal Palace in January 2017 led him to win the FIFA Puskas Award.
Obviously the technique is unreal, but what is possibly more impressive is the fact that Giroud had the audacity to even try to remove such a goal, somehow smashing the ball with the heel of his boot against the crossbar and into the back of the net. .
Guess what’s better than a first FA Cup win and also better than a second FA Cup win? Yes, you guessed it.
In addition to Community Shields, Giroud’s trophy tail from his time at the Emirates Stadium consisted entirely of FA Cups.
Although the Frenchman was only appointed as a replacement for the match, he continued with 12 minutes left and just one minute after his introduction, he produced a brilliant post to let Aaron Ramsey take home the winning goal.
Most footballers will never be lucky enough to lift an FA Cup, but Giroud won three in four years.
Oh my, Olivier Giroud! ?
He just loves making worldies, right !?
WHERE does the goal originally exclude but it says that Mario Hermoso was considered to have deflected the ball on the Frenchman? pic.twitter.com/CAweQ8SzAR
– Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) 23 February 2021
Giroud’s strike against Crystal Palace was probably a little better than his incredible goal against Atletico Madrid in last season’s Champions League, but the size of the opportunity means that this goal will come out on top.
Chelsea got a terrible draw in the first knockout round of the Champions League 2020/21 against Atletico Madrid.
The first stage would be the key and Giroud pulled off a fantastic overhead kick in the middle of the second half to give his team the lead – a lead that they would preserve and then add to the second stage to advance to the quarterfinals.
Guess what’s better than a first FA Cup win, better than a second FA Cup win and better than a third FA Cup win? Yes, you guessed it.
The FA Cup final win number four came during Giroud’s time at Chelsea after leaving Arsenal for the Blues 2018.
Unlike his first season with the Gunners, Giroud immediately won silver in his first year at Chelsea when they were crowned FA Cup winners after a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
The French international was withdrawn with just one minute of normal time left and played a key role in earning his side the victory.
The year after Giroud won his first trophy with Chelsea, he was on it again when the Blues secured the Europa League crown.
Giroud played a full 90 minutes in the final and produced an absolute champion class against his former side Arsenal. Gunnar’s defense simply could not contain him and he edged his side forward shortly after half time with a skillful nod.
Giroud won Chelsea a penalty later in the match which Eden Hazard converted to make the score 3-0, before connecting brilliantly to Hazard for 20 minutes left when the Belgian rounded off the score by making it 4-1 to Chelsea.
To rub salt in the wounds, Giroud was caught on camera with the trophy on the team coach and exclaimed “Thank you, Arsenal!”
Last but not least, of course, is Chelsea’s Champions League triumph.
The highlight of Giroud’s club career, the Frenchman may not have made it to the final, but he had a huge hand in Chelsea’s path to the show event and without his goal, the famous night in Porto might never have been.
It looks like the Blues ‘1-0 win over Manchester City will be the last time Giroud has ever been named on a Chelsea team sheet – and possibly the last time he will ever be named on an English side’s team sheet – but we can’ think in a better way for him to bow than to be crowned European champion.
