Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 10y

Olivier Giroud suffers ankle injury

LIVERPOOL -- Olivier Giroud is a doubt for Arsenal's Champions League qualifier against Besiktas after injuring his ankle in the 2-2 draw against Everton.

The Frenchman came off the bench to complete his side's comeback from 2-0 down at Goodison Park but limped off after levelling.

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And manager Arsene Wenger said he is worried that the striker could miss the tie, which is level at 0-0 after the first leg, against the Turkish team at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

"It is a big game and I hope we have not lost Giroud in the last minute of the game," he told Sky Sports. "It doesn't look too good. In the final minute, he stretched his ankle."

Wenger praised the target man for his contribution and said that Alexis Sanchez, who started as his main striker, both yet to reach full fitness and short of confidence at the moment.

The Chilean, who cost 35 million pounds from Barcelona, is yet to score in four appearances for Arsenal and was replaced by Giroud at halftime.

Wenger added in his news conference: "At the moment he is not completely ready physically. He knows he is not at his best physically but when he is, his confidence will come back."

He explained Giroud's original omission by saying: "I have more strikers than before so sometimes I can give them a little rest. Giroud has just played one game since the World Cup."

And Wenger felt his team were rather better after the France international came on, explaining: "I knew we were dominating the game in the second half and we needed some physical presence. We looked much more dangerous. We were not in a counter-attacking situation, we were in a dominating position."

The Arsenal manager praised his side for their show of character in coming back after Seamus Coleman and Steven Naismith scored for Everton.

He said: "We gave a great response with a complete desire to come back and the spirit was fantastic. In the end we got back to 2-2 and got a strong point but a deserved one, if you look at all the chances we had during the game. In the second half we had plenty of chances but the spirit got us that point."

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