In a Giuseppe Meazza stadium freed from its gauge of 5,000 spectators and acquired in Nerazzurri colors, Olivier Giroud played his first Madonnina derby on Saturday evening. Holder in the absence of injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the French international striker offered himself an express double allowing his team to completely overthrow Inter and thus relaunch the race for the Scudetto. Story of a breathtaking new performance.
“That Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) is missing is disappointing. We have made a lot of progress with him, but we have to show that we are also strong without him., declared Stefano Pioli in a pre-match press conference. One thing is certain, Olivier Giroud has received the message. Established at the forefront of the Rossoneri attack, orphans of their Swedish star injured in the Achilles tendon, the French international (110 caps, 46 goals) quite simply splashed the Italian derby with his talent. A performance that is all the more appreciable in view of the challenges of this meeting. Third at kick-off, AC Milan could, in fact, completely relaunch the title race by winning against its historic internal rival, leader of Serie A with 53 units.
However, this shock of the 24th day of the championship started very badly for the “visitors”. Collectively overwhelmed, the Rouge et Noir then relied on Mike Maignan, author of several decisive saves to leave his people in this meeting (11th, 13th, 26th, 28th). And when the former goalkeeper of the Mastiffs had to bow, Marco Guida, the referee of the meeting, saved the Rossoneri, as evidenced by this goal denied to Denzel Dumfries for a slight offside position (10th). Amorphous and unable to be dangerous around the opposing surface, AC Milan finally cracked quite logically on a gross marking error allowing Ivan Perisic to open the scoring (1-0, 39th).
A sad start to the evening…
Like his partners, Olivier Giroud also went through this start of the meeting like a lost soul on the attacking front. Weaned from the ball, never found the right tempo, taken by the collective intensity of the Interists, the former Gunners striker was even very close to seeing his first derby end prematurely. Touched in the knee after a bad reception, the number 9 of AC Milan, taken care of by the trainers, finally resumed his place. “I was a bit frustrated in the first half, like the whole team, because we didn’t play very well. I was hoping to have one or two balls in the area., declared the 2018 world champion at the end of the meeting. Dominated and led at the break, the Devil finally overturned everything at the dawn of the last quarter of an hour. The devil or rather a man: Oliver Giroud.
Taking advantage of a cross shot, off target, from Brahim Diaz, the 35-year-old French striker, opportunist, then tackled angrily to put AC Milan back up (1-1, 75th). As a real surface fox, the native of Chambéry then completely revived the debates. An action that was also reminiscent of the analysis made by his coach, just before this shock: “Giroud is an intelligent and complete footballer, he knows how to connect to the game but above all he knows how to occupy the surface perfectly”. But Stefano Piolo did not say that, he also assured that the former Blues striker was “ready”. Ready to capsize the hearts of rossoneri supporters? Certainly. Carried by this equalizer, the teammates of Theo Hernandez, sent off at the end of the game, went on the attack and just four minutes after the equalizer, AC Milan struck again.
… before a crazy night!
Served, back to goal, by Davide Calabria, Olivier Giroud then achieved a world-class sequence. With an oriented control, the left-hander left Stefan De Vrij on the spot and placed a shot in the small net of Samir Handanovic, not free from any reproach on his intervention (2-1, 79th). A double then propelling all his partners in a total effervescence, aware of the value of this victory. Because if Inter Milan still has a game in hand, AC Milan has now returned to a small point behind the Nerazzurri, while taking a four-point lead over Napoli, who are traveling this Sunday to 3 p.m. in Venice. Hero of San Siro, King of Milan, choose the formula that suits you. One thing is certain, this sparkling performance from Giroud completely revives the race for the Scudetto.
“It was a special match and we won it. I am happy and proud of this team which never gives up. In the first half, I was a little frustrated, like the whole team. We weren’t playing well and we knew it, but we showed a good state of mind together to get back into the game. We are in contention (for the title), but there are still a lot of games to play. A derby is a match that is won, we are back in the race., declared, at the end of the meeting, the number 9 of Milan at the microphone of DAZN. Embarrassed by a back injury at the start of the season and sometimes suffering from competition with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (8 starts in 24 league games), Giroud nevertheless confirmed that he was one of those extraordinary attackers, capable of reappearing at any time. when.
Under the long and sustained ovation of his tifosi, the former striker of Montpellier or even Chelsea – who scored all of his goals in this San Siro stadium (seven in Serie A, one in the Coupe d ‘Italy) – then gradually disappeared into the locker room of Meazza, leaving behind him this smell of revenge and this taste for accomplishment. Because as surprising as it is, not to say disconcerting, the strength of character shown by Olivier Giroud throughout his career sometimes approaches indecency and although recently plagued by doubts, count on him to sporting, all the way in the arena of world football, this awesome competitor’s armour.
🔴⚫ @_Olivier Giroud_ 🔴⚫He’s our no. 9️⃣#InterMilan #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/XGR9HyVGLb
— AC Milan (@acmilan) February 5, 2022
