Giroud given standing ovation at Emirates aged 40 as Lille suffer heavy defeat to Arsenal

Olivier Giroud received a standing ovation from Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, as Arsenal hosted Lille in the Champions League, but the Dogues suffered a 3-0 defeat that leaves no room for debate.

The 40-year-old striker, who had confided upon entering the London stadium that he wanted to “try not to be too emotional”, spent six seasons wearing the Arsenal shirt between 2012 and 2018, scoring 105 goals in 253 matches and winning three FA Cups (2014, 2015, 2017). It was at Arsenal that his career took flight towards the 2018 World Cup triumph with France, and it was there that he won the 2017 Puskas Award for his famous scorpion kick against Crystal Palace.

Coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute in place of Ayase Ueda, Giroud made his appearance when the match was already decided. Arsenal had scored three goals in seven minutes through Jurriën Timber (64th), Eberechi Eze (67th) and Bukayo Saka (71st), with the introduction of Mikel Arteta’s regular starters turning the tide of the match. The London supporters sang the chant dedicated to their former French striker, to the tune of The Beatles’ Hey Jude, as he came onto the pitch.

At the final whistle, Giroud did a lap of honour on the Emirates pitch, greeted by a crowd clearly attached to one of the most popular players in the club’s recent history. At 40 years and 13 days old, he is now the only French player to have played a European Cup match after reaching this symbolic milestone.

Lille, likely playing the final season at the highest level of their emblematic striker, still have six matches to play in this Champions League phase to turn things around.