A nervy ending to an always difficult tie away from home against Palace, Olivier Giroud was amongst the goals yet again as his goal was eventually the decider as Arsenal saw through a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park.
WhoScored Rating – 8.42
The Frenchman scored his 50th goal for the club and his 8th goal in the league this season from 15 games. His first shot on goal resulted in his only goal in the game, 4 shots in total. 2 on target (46 & 86′) and the other 2 blocked (60′). He also created 1 chance for a teammate in the 21st minute.
Olivier won 9 aerial duels, (2 more than other player on the pitch. Mertesacker with 7). On the ground he completed both take-on attempts, going past Joe Ledley (63′) and Scott Dann (84′). Giroud had a pass accuracy 60.8%, derived from the 51 passes he played. Of those passes 2 were accurate long balls and 1 attempted through ball. He had 67 touches.
Defensive discipline should be installed in every position and Giroud showed that with 4 clearances (3 headed) and 1 interception. He committed 3 fouls and was booked in the 56th minute.
He’s in hot form, both on and off the pitch these days, his lack of pace is covered by a pacy midfield playing off him, and it’s working to good effect, despite not dominating the game it’s what you do in front of goal that counts and Olivier is doing that job at the moment.