BELGRADE -- Three quick thoughts from Arsenal's late, dramatic 1-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in Thursday's early Europa League clash.

1. Giroud magic wins it for Arsenal

That is how you silence a crowd. Arsenal would have been content enough with a point against Red Star Belgrade and looked well on course to get one after numbing the threat of a home team and their vociferous fans. Then they went one better, and their 85th-minute winner will feature prominently in Olivier Giroud's personal highlight...

BELGRADE -- The question brought laughs around the Red Star Belgrade press room and was followed by a semi-serious answer. Had the Serbian league leaders been practicing for an exact replica of the marvellous goal, scored by Dusan Savic, that knocked Arsenal out of the UEFA Cup in 1978?

"No, but his son is in the team now so we'll let him score this time," said Vladan Milojevic, the Red Star coach.

It would be some story if Vujadin Savic emulated his father's heroics in the sides' Europa League...

In the latest edition of ESPN FC's derbies series, which features eyewitness insights into some of the biggest rivalries in world football, Andy Mitten goes to Serbia to experience the Belgrade derby between Red Star and Partizan.

ESPN FC'S DERBY SERIES

- River Plate vs. Boca Juniors, by Sam Kelly
- Man City vs. Man United, by Iain Macintosh
- Celtic vs. Rangers, by Chris Jones
- Benfica vs. Sporting, by Lee Roden
- Everton vs. Liverpool, by Jeff Carlisle
- Olympiakos vs. Panathinaikos, by Michael Yokhin
- Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke, by Uli Hesse
- Red Star vs. Partizan, by Andy Mitten
- Steaua vs. Dinamo, by Nick Ames
- Roma vs. Lazio, by Paolo Bandini

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Five minutes before kickoff in the Belgrade derby, a shaven-headed Partizan hooligan, his face obscured, rushes forward. Dressed in black, he's slight and holding a lighted flare in his right hand. Charging at speed from the opposite direction is an...