It might not have been his best performance when it comes to the eye test, but the scoreboard reads that AC Milan won 3-0 and Olivier Giroud scored an important goal against Empoli.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recalls, Giroud in his life scored at Wembley, Anfield and Old Trafford but also at the Francis-Le Blé in Brest, at the MKM Stadium in Hull and at the ETO Stadion in Győr.
The Stadio Carlo Castellani was missing from his list, and he potentially fixed that in his last chance to do so. After Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot was blocked by Maleh’s fingers, the Frenchman put the ball on the spot and found the top corner via the crossbar.
Giroud didn’t do much else in the match but, with that penalty, he reached double figures for the season: nine goals in the league, one in the Champions League. Since 2010, when he started playing in the ‘top five’ leagues, he has always done this.
That means he has 14 seasons out of 14 with at least 10 goals across spells at Montpellier, Arsenal, Chelsea and of course Milan. Among the players still competing in the five top European leagues, no one else has done this.
Giroud is second among the scorers in Serie A for 2023-24, behind Lautaro Martinez, and second in terms of away goals too. If in the year of the Scudetto he became a bit of a legend for his goals at San Siro, in the current campaign he enjoys scoring away from home comforts.
He has so far bagged in Rome, Naples, Lecce, Bergamo and now Empoli. It’s partly random, partly perhaps not: away from home, where Milan struggle, Giroud serves more. As for penalties, in Serie A for Milan he is on nine out of nine.
The 37-year-old, who usually leads the line in important matches, must have thought about the shadow of Luka Jovic yesterday and that might well explain the aggressive celebration which was almost an outpouring of anger and relief.
The life of a striker is strange. He lives for goals and when he doesn’t get them he blames himself, which means that there will have been a lot of pent up frustration given he hadn’t scored for almost a month – 9 December, against Atalanta – and he must have felt a bit of pressure.
He now has competition from Jovic, which he never had with Divock Origi in truth. Some Milan fans yesterday wanted the Serbian to start after his display in midweek, yet Giroud got the nod and did what was asked.
It could be his last season at Milan, it is almost certainly his last as the starting No.9, but no one is thinking about this now. Giroud now plays a little, rests a little, and it can only be good for him, considering that in the last few games he has seemed tired.
On Wednesday against Atalanta he will almost certainly start on the bench and will return to the starting line-up for the game Roma. Looking up, he can already see the next away matches on the horizon: Udinese and Frosinone, where he has never scored.
Giroud is such a difficult player to work out since his hold up player is terrible, he misses sitters, and with age his movement has not been the best, but he is a WINNER and he has scored so many WINNING goals – and that is the X factor.
It doesn’t always make sense, but some players are born to win and others are not, and Giroud is just one of those WINNERS.
And that is why Pioli continues to pick him because he helps us WIN.
One of the many mysteries of football.
Cue teenagers spouting certainties….
Unbelievable player. I do think you can see in his expressions now, that his legs aren’t doing what his head is asking, and I’d like to see Jovic given a chance to take confidence (which is clearly key to his character as a human, not just a footballer) from being a starter, knowing that Giroud is there if it’s not happening.
26 year old Giroud and 26 year old Jovic is a non-contest, but if we can get him firing with Giroud pushing him and supporting him, he might just close that gap.
Yes I would like to see Jovic more.
He’s done more than enough to earn it with his recent performances.
Strange that he didn’t even get brought on against Empoli.
he can score only when u find him from sniper.his movement is terrible,too slow,no dribling,right foot,doesn t participate in the game,the worst striker in milan history and with him and worst coach in univers u cant expect better results.
Cue teenagers spouting certainties!
Yes the player and manager who were instrumental in the team’s successes in recent years are the ‘worst’!
“the worst striker in milan history”
LOL. How to spot the village idiot. 😀 😀 😀 😀
So, let’s see… Worst striker in Milan history. Is that based on stats, scudettos, goals + assists, performances, performances against the big 5 or what?
Let’s compare Giroud with e.g. the likes of Kalinic, Matri, Ricardo Oliveira, Kluivert, Jose Mari, Torres, Lapadula, Mandzukic, Javi Moreno. Why are all those players better than Giroud? Please tell me. I’m anxious to know. 🙂
I could add Colombo & Cutrone to the the list too if you’re too young to know any of those names I just posted above.
And speaking of ex-Milan-youth players Paloschi & Petagna also come into mind. Shall I continue?
Hi shut up if you are not a milan supporter..Giroud is a great striker at the age he had shown that he has help his loving team in scoring,those who say that he is not good I have some thing to tell you he won the scudetto with milan reach the semifinal of the champions league he has been call many times by France national team…thank you Giroud for what you have done for milan hope you find the net against AtaLanta..milan for ever…another win..aller Giroud aller milan..je t’aime pou toujour…aller MILAN MILAN…
Dumbass
“Your mind knows what to do, but your legs are not quick enough. You know you are better than the others, but the body can’t be in the game,” – Francesco Totti
This is exactly what is happening. A great player, whose body is failing him. Getting old sucks, and for someone like Giroud or Ibra, it is next to impossible and incredibly painful to accept that fact.
I remembered that moment, when I looked on the field and saw where is should go, the path to dribble to goal and everything but my body wasn’t capable of taking me there lol 😂 😂😂 I’m laughing but it was also sad