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Olivier Giroud’s stunning late strike gave Arsenal victory at 10-man Crvena Zvezda and kept them firmly on course to reach the Europa League knockout stage.
Giroud produced the game’s one moment of quality with an 85th-minute overhead flick to hook the ball into the net.
The goal came minutes after Milan Rodic was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Francis Coquelin.
Richmond Boakye hit the post for the hosts in the first half.
Arsenal are top of Group H with nine points, four ahead of second-placed BATE Borisov.
This win was their third in as many Europa League games and a welcome lift after a disappointing defeat by Watford at the weekend.
Arsenal give ideal response to Deeney dig
The character of Arsenal’s players was questioned after they let slip a lead to lose 2-1 at Watford on Saturday, with Hornets striker Troy Deeney saying the Gunners lacked “cojones”.
Manager Arsene Wenger admitted the comment hit a nerve, but backed his players to respond with a strong performance in Serbia.
There are few stadiums more intimidating than Crvena Zvezda’s Marakana, and the feverish atmosphere the 50,000-plus home fans produced from the first whistle promised to test Arsenal’s character to the full.
It would have been easy for the visitors to wilt, particularly with Wenger opting to give many of his younger and fringe players the chance to impress, but they kept their nerve to produce a professional away performance.
BBC Sports