On a glorious night in Piraeus, the Arsenal completed an improbable comeback and ended Olympiacos’ dreams of reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick by the 70th minute to see the Gunners through by beating the Greek side 3-0. The club will learn their round of 16 opponents next week. Just three weeks ago, such a result seemed all but impossible.
After a bit of a cautious start that saw the Greek side with a few half-chances, the game settled in after the first 15 minutes, and Arsenal began to assert themselves after the 20th minute. Just before the half-hour mark, Mesut Ozil sent Aaron Ramsey behind a well-organised Olympiacos back four. Ramsey smartly spotted the near-post run of Giroud, who buried the header to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead.
After the goal, the Gunners looked far more relaxed and, despite a few passages of play where the Greeks seemed threatening, and the away side never truly looked like losing control.
Giroud added to his tally with a 49th-minute goal which highlighted all of his skills. He had just shaken off an ankle knock to win a header in midfield, before starting a long run that ended with a perfectly-placed Joel Campbell pass at his feet, and he calmly first-timed a shot past Olympiacos’ ‘keeper Roberto, and Arsenal were off.
Giroud completed his hat-trick with a well-taken penalty in the 69th minute to make the remainder of the game much more comfortable.
It was a wonderful team effort and a famous victory for a club that really needed it. Here are the player ratings for the contest.
