Arsene Wenger has given a vote of confidence to under-pressure striker Olivier Giroud after he scored his first Premier League goal since January in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City yesterday.
The Frenchman was on target as the Gunners responded quickly to City's opener and took a major step towards automatic Champions League qualification as the spoils were shared at Etihad Stadium.
City had been on course to leapfrog Arsene Wenger's side into third after Kevin De Bruyne's second-half goal but Giroud's smart flick played in Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal again came from behind.
He told Arsenal’s official website: “Olivier Giroud was questioned recently and I’m happy I kept confidence in him because I thought he had a top-level performance,”
“He was fighting, he had control of the ball, he was finishing and he gave an assist.”
Giroud’s 10th-minute equaliser at the Etihad was his first Premier League goal since his brace in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool in January, ending an 881-minute goal drought.
Wenger believes yesterday’s result proves his side’s ability to perform against the Premier League’s top sides, he said: “They are difficult to beat and we have shown again that we can get results against top teams.
“We showed a lot of character and the intensity of the game was very high. We dealt well with what was thrown at us and Manchester City looked like they were doing absolutely everything to win the game.”
Wenger was optimistic about his team’s resilient display, equalising twice to earn a point at the Etihad and keeping the gap between the two teams at three points.
He added: “The fact we came back twice each time we were down, we looked like we had the response to score. I think we could have won the game in the end. Overall, it is a positive result.”
