Olivier Giroud's first hat-trick for the club saw Arsenal defy the odds and qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos in Athens.
There was a big worry for Gunners' fans when Giroud went down injured at 1-0. Even when he came back on I, at the time, thought it was a big risk especially with the spate of injuries we have picked up lately. But by god am I glad he came back on to add two further goals to secure runners-up spot for us in Group F.
Arsenal went into the game knowing they had to win to move level on points with the Greek side, and then win by a two-goal margin or any victory scoring three or more, to ensure they came out on top of the head-to-head battle to progress.
Normally before a game I have some sort of gut feeling but this time I really did feel split over how we would do. Part of me thought we could do it, while another bit of me thought we would come close but not close enough...so the eventual outcome made me even more delighted. Arsenal have now reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League for a 16th year in a row.
Arsenal controlled large spells of the game but it was Olympiakos, who had previously won 12 domestic league games on the bounce, that wasted the chance to open the scoring when Seba sent a volley off target.
The Gunners also came close to breaking the deadlock when Mathieu Flamini's deflected strike hit the crossbar. This seemed to spark Arsenal into life and the visitors soon took the lead as Giroud latched onto Aaron Ramsey to head the ball in off goalkeeper Roberto shortly before the half hour mark.
But things looked to have taken a turn for the worse for Arsenal when Giroud turned his ankle and required medical attention early in the second half. It not only looked like the end of his evening but, with not many attacking options on the bench, I briefly wondered where the next goal would come from. But just as I was saying 'Wenger please sub him off! We can't risk any more big injuries', the French striker was back on the field to score a well-taken second within four minutes of the restart. Joel Campbell, who produced arguably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt, picked out Giroud with a sublime pass before the striker calmly slotted the ball beyond Roberto.
Olympiakos came close to pulling a goal back but Kostas Fortounis's effort was well saved by Petr Cech. That was about as good as it got for the hosts and it wasn't too long before Arsenal scored their third to wrap up the victory and a memorable night in Greece. Nacho Monreal's shot was blocked by the hand of Omar Elabdellaoui. Giroud stepped up and scored the resulting penalty to complete his hat-trick 24 minutes from time.
GROUP F
If someone had said to me when the groups were drawn that we would secure second spot in Group F, I would've been delighted. Finishing above Bayern Munich was always going to be tough and we did manage to beat them in the clash at the Emirates. The performance away to Olympiakos was also of a very high quality.
For all the positives, there were also negatives. Without disrespecting Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos too much, how did we end up needing a final-game miracle to progress? A huge effort and one I am proud of the manager and players for, but such a dramatic turnaround shouldn't have been needed.
The defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos in the opening two games were very poor and we can't repeat them again but the miracle in Athens could yet prove a huge result, not just for our Champions League campaign but for our overall season. Elimination would have been hard for the players to take, but the turnaround to qualify can give us a big boost going into the rest of the season, so let's wait and see what happens.
Finishing runners-up in Group F does mean we are likely to get a much tougher last-16 draw than if we had topped the group. But being in the Champions League is all about pitting your wits against the best so if we are serious about this competition we need to prove we can beat the big guns.
Obviously I'd prefer Wolfsburg or Zenit in the next round but I'll accept whoever we get. No matter what team we draw we must ensure we play more like we did in Athens than how we did in some of the other Group F games.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Finally we can relax that we have progressed through to the knock-out stages but we must be ready to go again quickly and turn our attentions back to the Premier League. Two points behind leaders Leicester going into the next match and we travel to Aston Villa on the back of an excellent European performance. Surely that was the perfect tonic to prepare us for Villa but there is no room for complacency and we need to make sure we are at our best to get maximum points and keep our season moving on an upward curve.....but I'll certainly take nothing for granted and there is still a hell of a long way to go.
We also found out recently that our FA Cup defence will begin with a third round clash against Sunderland but it's all about the league for the rest of December and we need to make sure we stay focused and don't suffer any blips. Things are now looking good again but it is impossible to predict how things are going to turn out, so let's just wait and see.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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