Olivier Giroud faced the media after Arsenal's 2-1 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. You can read a full transcript of the interview below:
on the win…
We really needed these three points to bounce back from the performance at home to West Ham. We wanted to play our game. Even if we won this afternoon we could have killed the game before but it was nice for the suspense.
on scoring early…
Yeah definitely, as a striker it is always nice to score as after that you can play with more freedom and confidence. You can try more and more things and you can take more risks. As I told you, we could have scored more goals by [taking] the best choice in the last pass but we are very happy to get the three points and that is the main thing for the team.
on his goal…
Yeah, it is always nice to score when you are a striker and especially a goal like that with your first touch. Apparently last year I scored 16 goals and nine were on my first touch. The boss told me that in the box I should take it with one touch, so I try to do it and I scored with my first touch but it was a good cross from Mesut. I felt really good physically in the game so it’s nice for the future and we need to keep it up for next Monday against Liverpool. It’s a big, big game.
on taking criticism…
You always get criticised when you lose, especially at home, but we know we are the same [team]. At the beginning of the championship we want more and we want to win the league basically so we are going to join the title race. When you say that you have to face the expectations. It was bad luck that performance [against West Ham] but even if we lost last week the most important thing in football is to bounce back the week after and keep your faith and your game. That is what we tried to do and we succeeded today.
on being more aggressive…
Yes, obviously when you play a Premier League game you need to be ready, you need to have full commitment in the game. Maybe we missed a little bit of that last week but I think we have started the game really well and we have shown that we have learnt from our mistakes. Maybe we could have been a bit more efficient up front, [then] we would have walked away with the three points.
on his type of goal and his celebration…
It was maybe a volley or a scissor on the side, maybe I was a bit lucky but that’s what I wanted to do so yes I’m pleased with that. I told my friend Debuchy that I would celebrate with him if I scored so it’s a wink to him.
on his technique…
Yes I like to reach back, I mean to wait for the cross a bit, to stand back. I like to step back to give as much time to score the goal. It was a good cross from Mesut. I think it was the best chance to [for that kind of finish] and I was a bit lucky, but it was what I wanted to do so it’s nice for me and nice for the team.
on if the players knew they had to react…
Yes, that’s where you can see if you have a good mental strength or not. That’s the most important thing, to bounce back straight away after a bad performance, especially at home. We had a meeting today and our fans were amazing so we really wanted to win for them and even if all was not perfect, we got the three points.
on if the game should have been over sooner…
Yeah, yeah, we could have killed the game before but I mean it was nice for the suspense. It was a great game, it took a lot of vision on the pitch. I felt really well, with me and my team-mates. I think we are going to improve ourselves and get better and better. These three points are crucial for our confidence in these next games.
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