Five years on from possibly the greatest goal in Premier League history. Five years ago, Giroud brought down Crystal Palace with a scorpion

It’s been five years since Oliveira Giroud’s legendary goal in the Crystal Palace net. A football fan will realise how time flies, Giroud’s scorpion anyway celebrated his half birthday on Saturday.

Arsenal were struggling at the end of 2015, having lost three of their last four games and absolutely had to win at home against Crystal Palace. Back then, the Gunners were still playing Champions League and couldn’t handle the busy schedule.

In any case, they entered the new year on the right foot. In the 17th minute of the home game against Crystal Palace, played on 1 January, Alexis Sanchez pulled off a break and sent a centre into the box.

At first glance, Olivier Giroud appeared to sidefoot Alexis, but the French playmaker suddenly hit the ball with the heel of his left foot, giving the away goalkeeper no chance. The ball nestled off the crossbar into the bank, Arsenal leading.

Alex Iwobi added a second goal in the second half to give the Gunners a 2-0 win. However, the season could not be described as successful, they missed the fourth place by a point and in the following season they did not play the Champions League, but only the Europa League.

Giroud’s goal went around the world and in October 2017 he won the FIFA Puskás Award. He dominated the category of the best goal of the calendar year, leaving behind the author of the beautiful scissors Baroka Musuleke and Deyna Castellanos, who scored from the middle of the pitch.

Source: Twitter