the “devil” Giroud praised by the Italian newspapers after his double against Inter
Scorer twice in AC Milan’s victory in the derby against Inter (2-1) on Saturday in Serie A, Olivier Giroud is in one of the Italian daily newspapers this Sunday. All highlight the good performance of the French.
An express double and a success that relaunched the battle for the Scudetto. For his first Milan derby, Olivier Giroud hit hard. Aligned from the start in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, injured in the Achilles tendon, he was the great architect of AC Milan’s victory on Saturday against Inter (2-1) in the shock of the 24th day of Serie A. Led in the score, the Rossoneri relied on their French world champion to overthrow everything. It was he who emerged as a fox from the surfaces to equalize a quarter of an hour from the end (75th). And it was he again who had fun with Stefan de Vrij before adjusting Samir Handanovic to give victory to his team (78th).
If they have a game late, the Nerazzurri are only one point ahead of AC Milan and four over Naples, who travel to Venice this Sunday (3 p.m.). Giroud, he had asked for a smile at the final whistle. “It was a special match and we won it. I’m happy and proud of this team which doesn’t give 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 in the game. We are in contention (for the title), but there are still a lot of games to play”, he commented on the microphone from DAZN. This Sunday morning, it is he who makes the front page of Italian newspapers.
“The Devil Oliver”
“Giroud, the derby is you”, headlines La Gazzetta dello Sport, the most widely read sports daily in the country. “Ibra, 40, missing? Giroud, 35, took care of everything. He transformed a crazy derby with his double in three minutes. It was his first derby and even the first time he crossed the “Inter in his career. He is not affected by the curse of number 9”, says La Gazzetta, referring to all the scorers who failed in Milan while wearing this symbolic number (Alessandro Matri, Fernando Torres, Mattia Destro, Luiz Adriano, Gianluca Lapadula, André Silva, Gonzalo Higuain, Krzysztof Piatek…) In a Corriere dello Sport, Giroud is renamed “The devil Olivier”, the one who “relaunched the race for the Scudetto”.
Tuttosport, but also generalist newspapers such as Le Corriere della Sera, Il Tirreno and La Sicilia devote an insert to the fine performance of the former Gunner. Arrived last summer from Chelsea, he is now at eight goals and two assists in 21 appearances in all competitions. Not so bad for a player many thought burned out. It remains to be seen whether his current good form pushes Didier Deschamps to call him back for the next meeting of the France team. The Blues will face Côte d’Ivoire in a friendly on March 25 in Marseille, then South Africa four days later in Villeneuve-d’Ascq. With or without Giroud?