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| Olivier Giroud was the villain for Arsenal after his 40th minute red card |
OLIVIER GIROUD'S shocking September hit a new low last night in Croatia as Arsenal lost 2-1 to Dinamo Zagreb.
The France international was booed off by his own fans a couple of weekends ago after missing a hatful of chances against Serbia.
And in Zagreb last night, Giroud failed to convert two opportunities, then was sent off in the 40th minute after showing that, when it comes to collecting bookings.
Giroud had looked like he might be over the worst when he came off the bench to grab Arsenal's second goal in Saturday's 2-0 win over Stoke. But it was not to be as Arsene Wenger sent out his men for their 18th successive crack at the Champions League under his reign.
Early on however, the Gunners No 12 did look a threat. He forced goalkeeper Eduardo into a flying saved when he met a Cazorla corner with a powerful header.
The Frenchman came even closer soon after. A superb ball from Mathieu Debuchy sent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain clear on the right and he pulled back for the Arsenal centre-forward.
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| Giroud looks dejected as he walks off after receiving a red card |
His prodded shot hit the bottom of Eduardo's left post and the keeper scrambled for a corner as Giroud tried to follow up.
Those two near-misses were to prove costly as Zagreb went ahead in the 24th minute. El Arabi Hilai Soudani picked out Josip Pivanic's perfectly-timed run and he thrust through on goal.
David Ospina did well to block Pivanic's shot with his legs, but the ball rebounded in off Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had dashed back to try to cover.
Giroud's bad night turned even worse in the 40th minute when he went in late on Ivo Pinto.
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| Arsene Wenger made a number of changes to his side ahead of the Chelsea match this weekend |
It was more awkward than malicious but Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan booked him for the second time, having earlier show him a yellow card for dissent.
The Gunners started shakily in the second half, with El Arabi Hilal Soudani heading against a post and Leonardo Sigali put the follow-up wide.
The 10 men of Arsenal looked decidedly shaky and went two down in the 57th minute. After being exposed by a break once again they conceded a corner.
Paulo Machado took it from the left and Junior Fernandez belied his name by showing he was big and strong, surging in front of a static Laurent Koscielny to power in a header at the near post.
Zagreb have never managed to make it out of the group stages but they sensed a shock victory was on, with the north Londoners looking decidedly fragile and exposed.
Wenger decided to make changes in the 64th minute bringing on Theo Walcott - who scored his famous hat-trick for England against Croatia in the stadium - and Francis Coquelin for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta.
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| Theo Walcott grabbed a consolation goal for Arsenal |
But they gave little immediate lift to Wenger's team, who looked strangely out of sorts as they appeared to back their manager's pre-match claim that he was no "dreamer" when it came to being realistic about Arsenal's chances of winning the Champions League.
Walcott did eventually reduce the deficit with 11 minutes remaining.
Alexis Sanchez had set up with England winger with a through ball and Walcott unleashed a shot with his right foot that nestled into the bottom left-hand corner.
Sadly for Wenger and his team it was all too little too late. Next up it is Chelsea in the Premier League - ominous for Wenger's side after they finally found a win last night.
DINAMO ZAGREB (4-1-2-1-2): Eduardo; Ivo Pinto, Sigali, Taravel, Pivaric; Ademi; Paulo Machado, Antolic; Pjaca; Soudani, Fernandes.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Debuchy, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs; Cazorla, Arteta; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud.
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (Romania).
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