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'Theo scored a real striker’s goal’

Arsene Wenger hailed the “outstanding” Theo Walcott after he scored in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Stoke City.

The England forward gave the Gunners a first-half lead, expertly controlling Mesut Ozil’s 40-yard pass and finishing beyond Jack Butland, before Olivier Giroud secured all three points after the break.

Walcott has now started Arsenal’s last two games up front, and Wenger believes the 26-year-old’s display on Saturday proves that he can continue to lead the Gunners’ front line.

"The quality of his movement, the quality of his control and the quality of his finish was absolutely outstanding"

Arsene Wenger

“His goal was outstanding,” the manager told Arsenal Player. “The quality of his movement, the quality of his control and the quality of his finish was absolutely outstanding. It’s a real striker’s goal.

“Scoring is a bit cyclic, up and down, but with the quality of the players we have we know we can score goals. We did against Stoke and if we continue to create that number of chances we will score much more.

“We had 30 shots on goal and we created bags of chances. We played with good mobility, good movement and good combinations with high technical quality. The only regret we have is that between the number of chances we had and the number of goals we scored, maybe the difference is a bit big. Overall it’s good to win.

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Arsenal now have another big week ahead of them as they travel to Dinamo Zagreb for their Champions League opener on Wednesday, before facing a tough test at Premier League champions Chelsea on Saturday.

“We want to start well in the Champions League because that is vital, and then focus on a very big game on Saturday morning,” Wenger said. “First, let’s get into the Champions League and focus on that.”

 

Theo Walcott

Theo Walcott