Giroud goal seals win in final home game

With Everton losing to Manchester City a day earlier, the game against West Brom no longer had any real significance for Arsenal. Everton's defeat meant that before we even played we were guaranteed a place in the top four. The 1-0 win over West Brom asserted our position amongst the top four teams in the country as we stretched the gap to seven points over the Merseyside club. Olivier Giroud's goal fourteen minutes into the game was the difference as we played our final game at home in the 2013/14 campaign. The line-up saw just one change to the side that beat Newcastle on Monday as Mathieu Flamini replaced Aaron Ramsey who missed out through a slight thigh problem. Meanwhile Abou Diaby was back on the bench for the first time in over a year having been out of the side for so long with yet another injury.

Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of the game

One loss. That's all we suffered at home in the league this season, a run of unbeaten games that stretches back to the opening day against Aston Villa. Our season looked as though it wasn't going to go well from that point on, but in theory it got better, but then slightly worse again. We've lead the Premier League this season for longer than any other team but come next weekend it will not be us lifting the trophy. That job will be over to Liverpool or Manchester City as we sit in fourth place for yet another year. However a Champions League spot, and an FA Cup final to come, means we've had a very productive season.

The win over West Brom on Sunday afternoon signified that it was a typical end of season game. We have nothing to really play for and you could tell with the intensity of the game. The match perhaps warranted more than one goal and had it been earlier in the season I think we would've pushed harder for it. Podolski, Ozil and Cazorla all passed up pretty decent chances during the game but it was Olivier Giroud who tucked away his opportunity.

The Frenchman impressed a lot against West Brom and his performance was reminiscent of his early season form. His goal was a well taken one as he got ahead of his marker to find the net from Santi Cazorla's corner. Giroud's start of and end of season form has been brilliant. In his first five games he bagged four goals and in his last 5 games he's found the net three times. Whether or not he'll be the main striker next season though remains to be seen. Surely we'll sign another forward though won't we?

Mesut Ozil also put in another good performance after his brilliant display against Newcastle and he looks back to his best again. The impetus of Aaron Ramsey was of course missed but with Arteta and Flamini we had a more disciplined midfield line.

Bacary Sagna put in another very consistent shift in what could potentially be his final home game in an Arsenal shirt. His contract is up at the end of the season and he is yet to renew his current deal. If Sagna does leave it'll leave a massive hole in that Arsenal defence. He's been one of our most consistent players during his seven years at the club, and it'll be very difficult to find a right back as good as him that is available to sign.

We now have one league game left which is against relegation threatened Norwich who will desperately trying to win in order to stay up. Wenger may well chose to rest players for that game ahead of the FA Cup final the week after though.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal(80), Arteta(62), Flamini, Cazorla(70), Ozil, Podolski, Giroud.
Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen(80), Jenkinson, Kallstrom(62), Diaby, Rosicky(70), Sanogo.

West Brom: Foster, Dawson, Lugano, Olsson, Brunt, Amalfitano(80), Mulumbu(86), Dorrans, Morrison, Sessegnon, Berahino.
Subs: Myhill, McAuley, O'Neil, Yacob, Sinclair, Vydra(86), Anichebe(80).

My man of the match: Olivier Giroud.

Referee: Mike Jones.

Giroud returns to form as Arsenal cruise to victory

Arsenal returned to winning ways in the League as they comfortably beat Sunderland 4-1 on Saturday afternoon. After a troubled period recently against the likes of Liverpool, United and Bayern, it was a relief to be playing a weaker side in the form of Sunderland. It was vitally important to pick up a morale boosting win and that's certainly what we did. Goals from Olivier Giroud, Tomas Rosicky and Laurent Koscielny sealed the win as we moved to within a point of Chelsea once more. The game saw five changes from the defeat to Bayern. Monreal replaced the injured Gibbs whilst Giroud regained his place from Yaya Sanogo. Podolski came in for Ozil who wasn't included in the squad whilst Arteta and Rosicky started as Flamini and Chamberlain dropped to the bench.

Giroud and Rosicky were both on the score sheet as Arsenal beat Sunderland

The game against Sunderland saw us play some of the best attacking football we've played all season, and that was without Ozil. He hasn't been in the best of form recently but its freighting that we scored four without him in the team. He supposedly missed the game with a dead leg but truth be told Wenger was just giving him a rest and giving him a chance to recover from the penalty miss against Bayern. The quality of goals that the Gunners scored were brilliant though.

The first goal was brilliantly worked as Jack Wilshere drove into the penalty area before playing a lovely reverse ball into Giroud who couldn't miss. It was brilliant to see the Frenchman back on the score sheet after a tough couple of weeks. It was a well taken finish too, a type of chance he'd been snatching at of late though. Meanwhile his second was a precise finish also. Giroud pounced on a stray back pass from Vergini to slide the ball under former Gunner, Vito Mannone to double the lead.

The third goal brought back memories of that amazing team goal against Norwich. Cazorla, Wilshere and Giroud all played a string of one touch passes before Rosicky dinked the ball beautifully over Mannone. It's difficult to appreciate the pure beauty of it by just reading a description but it really was one hell of a goal. The fourth meanwhile came via the head of Laurent Koscielny who bagged his first goal of the season. He rose unmarked from a Cazorla corner to wrap up all three points.

It was disappointing to see us concede though. It was the first league goal we had let in since the beginning of December against Everton. The ball was whipped in and Szczesny opted to punch the ball clear rather than catching it. The ball fell to Giaccherini who let fly through a crowd of bodies for a consolation goal for Sunderland. Up to then the visitors hadn't really been in the game at all. After the tough game against Bayern we could've done with an easy game and that's exactly what they offered us. They rarely closed us down and that's what let to their downfall as we were able to string our passes together with relative ease.

There were only a few negatives from the game though, but they weren't in terms of the way we played. Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny both went off injured leading to a shortage at the back as Sagna had to play at right back, left back and center back throughout the game! Wenger did confirm after the match that the pair should be fit for next week though. That's a relief considering both Gibbs and Vermaelen remain out injured.

Giroud, Rosicky and Wilshere were all contenders for the man of the match award. It was great to see Giroud get a brace to answer all of his recent critics whilst Rosicky showed exactly why he should be getting a new contract in the not too distant future. Wilshere's link-up play meanwhile was brilliant and that awarded him with an assist for the first goal.

Next up is a tough trip to Stoke City, plenty of the top teams have gone there and slipped up so we need to be careful of that and put in another great performance that warrants three points. It may be an idea to keep Ozil out of the team again due to the physicality of Stoke but we'll have to wait and see.

The teams line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny(67), Monreal(45), Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Rosicky(73), Podolski, Giroud.
Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson(45), Flamini(67), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry(73), Sanogo, Bendtner.

Sunderland: Mannone, Bardsley, Vergini, O'Shea, Alonso, Bridcutt, Ki(73), Colback, Johnson(45), Altidore(45), Borini. 
Subs: Ustari, Cuellar, Celutska, Gardner, Larsson(45), Giaccherini(45), Scocco(73).

My man of the match: Olivier Giroud.

Referee: Andre Marriner. 
Attendance: 60,012. 

Giroud at the double as Arsenal beat Southampton

Arsenal made a return to action following the international break and it couldn't have got much better for the Gunners. Olivier Giroud capitalised on a howler from Boruc before firing home from the penalty spot to seal a 2-0 win at the Emirates. With Liverpool dropping points earlier in the day, the win sent us 4 points clear at the top of the table as we bounced back in convincing fashion, following our defeat at the hands of Manchester United last time out. The line-up saw Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky return to the squad following illness whilst Theo Walcott also featured following a two month lay-off with an abdominal injury.

Olivier Giroud scored twice as Arsenal beat Southampton

The match was one that was expected to be quite a tough one. Southampton had been rock solid at the back this season and had one of the best records in Europe. The way they conceded both their goals was very ironic though in the fact that it was two basic errors that cost them the game. Artur Boruc auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing with some very weird footwork. Instead of smashing the ball up field he tried a combination of flicks and drag-backs in an attempt to avoid Giroud. However the Polish keeper was made to look stupid as the Frenchman stole in to open the scoring. Southampton were lacking Dejan Lovren through illness and it was evident that he was a key loss. They didn't look as assured as they had this season at the back and a rush of blood from Fonte allowed us to score a second. Per Mertesacker, a man in form having scored against England for Germany in the week, had his shirt pulled back from a corner, resulting in a penalty. Arteta was off the field so it was up to Giroud who confidently found the net. It was refreshing to see Giroud back on the score-sheet in the league having been through a bit of dip in form over the past few months.

Mesut Ozil showed signs that his form was returning as he created one or two chances and managed to fire in the odd shot. Santi Cazorla didn't provide the sparkle we're so used to seeing from the Spaniard though. The effects of traveling out to Guinea and South Africa for friendlies with Spain was clearly evident. Mathieu Flamini was missing through suspension but with Arteta filling the hole there wasn't really much to worry about. Once again, I think we're better when Arteta accompanies Ramsey or Wilshere, instead of Flamini.

Onto Ramsey and Wilshere and they both heavily impressed. Wilshere more so than we've been used to this season. He featured heavily on international duty for England, starting against Chile and then coming on as a sub against Germany. He looked like a revived player on Saturday though. His passing was more crisper and his brilliant driving runs that we've been so used to seeing were as good as ever. When Jack's in the mood it helps the team so much. Wenger recently said that Wilshere's best position was in the deep lying role and that's where he was more or less playing against Southampton. He drifted a bit out wide with Ramsey also in the squad but his runs from deep allowed us to dictate the tempo of the game to our advantage.

Our defence though were extremely solid again. Koscielny was sent off and gave away a penalty on international duty but that didn't seem to affect his confidence when he returned to club action. His partnership with Mertesacker is really beginning to become a force to be reckoned with. We've only conceded one goal this month in 5 games which was in the defeat to United. Considering it's the position we're lacking the most depth in its probably just as well really that we're not having troubles in that department.

Next up is Marseille in the Champions League at the Emirates. We comfortably beat them 2-1 away from home last time out and we haven't really had many troubles when up against the French side in recent meetings. However, this is the Champions League, and despite Marseille not really having a chance of qualifying they'll still be a tough side to break down. Theo Walcott is still to make his proper comeback following a substitute appearance against his old club which is something to get excited about ahead of Tuesday's game.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta(74), Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil(81), Cazorla(70), Giroud.
Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal(81), Rosicky(74), Gnabry, Walcott(70), Bendtner.

Southampton: Boruc, Clyne Hooiveld, Fonte, Shaw(45), Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Lallana(53), Rodriguez, Lambert.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Yoshida, Chambers, Reed, Davis(46), Gallagher, Osvaldo(53).

My man of the match: Olivier Giroud.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.
Attendance: 60,007.