Olivier Giroud closes in on unwanted record, but may not break it for some time

Chelsea’s weekend supersub Olivier Giroud is close to a pretty unique Premier League record.

He came off the bench at the weekend to net twice for the Blues as they roared back against Southampton, and that took the Frenchman closer to the record number of goals scored by a substitute.

As noted in Chelsea’s weekly post-game stats feature, the Data Day Jermain Defoe has 24 off the bench, while Giroud has raised his total to 18.

If he sticks around, it looks like a record he could easily break, although he may struggle to do so this season.

He played so much better than Alvaro Morata after coming on at the weekend that he will presumably be the undisputed first choice for the rest of the season, limiting his chances off the bench.

He will be happy about that, and with plenty of years still to go, some presumably as a substitute, there’s a very good chance he will be the new record holder before long.

Chelsea News