Old man Giroud makes history as he rescues Lille in Europa League

Call the old man for a late rescue! Despite being 38, Olivier Giroud is still as good as it gets as he managed to push Lille OSC to a 2-1 victory in the opening UEFA Europa League game against Norwegian side SK Brann.

Coming off the bench, the former Arsenal, Chelsea and France striker netted a lovely header ten minutes from time to snatch a win.

Previously, Hamza Igamane opened the scoring for the hosts near the hour mark, scoring after a clever run from Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who had set him up for the finish. Six minutes later, however, Brann equalised through Sevar Atli Magnusson.

The underdogs were near a shocking lead, hitting the post twice, before Giroud returned the lead to Les Dogues. It was one of those trademark headers of his, as the French side registered a much-expected win to kickoff their UEL campaign.

Giroud became the third-oldest-ever player to score in the Europa League/UEFA Cup and is the oldest player to score a goal as a substitute in this competition, aged 38 years and 360 days.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Wednesday

Midtjylland - Sturm 2-0 (1-0)

/Christensen 8(og), Diao 88/

PAOK - Maccabi T.A. 0-0

Betis - Nottingham Forest 2-2 (1-2)

/Bakambu 15, Antony 85 - Jesus 18, 23/

Braga - Feyenoord 1-0 (0-0)

/Navarro 79/

Crvena Zvezda - Celtic 1-1 (0-0)

/Arnatuovic 65 - Iheanacho 55/

Dinamo Zagreb - Fenerbahce 3-1 (1-1)

/Beljo 21, 50, Bakrar 90+5 - Szymanski 25/

Freiburg - Basel 2-1 (1-0)

/Ostergahe 31, Eggstein 57 - Otele 84/

Malmo - Ludogorets 1-2 (1-2)

/Johnsen 78 - Stanic 8, Bile 23/

Nice - Roma 1-2 (0-0)

/Moffi 77 pen - Ndicka 52, Mancini 55/

Thursday

Go Ahead Eagles - FCSB 0-1 (0-0)

/Miculescu 13/

Lille - Brann 2-1 (0-0)

/Igamane 54, Giroud 80 - Magnusson 59/

Aston Villa - Bologna IN PROGRESS

Ferencvaros - Plzen IN PROGRESS

Rangers - Genk IN PROGRESS

Salzburg - Porto IN PROGRESS

Stuttgart - Celta IN PROGRESS

Utrecht - Olympique Lyon IN PROGRESS

Young Boys - Panathinaikos IN PROGRESS