Giroud - We finished the job really well | News

Olivier Giroud marked his return from injury in memorable fashion, coming off of the bench to score twice as Arsenal won 4-1 away at Sunderland.

The French forward faced the press with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after the match at the Stadium of Light - read on to find out what was said:

Giroud on if the win was straightforward…
In the end we made it easy, but it was totally the reverse. We started well but after they came back well in the game. We didn’t succeed to get the second goal and we were a bit exposed in the second half. It was nice to score this second goal, and after we finished the job well.

Ox on if he felt it was a missed opportunity when Sunderland equalised…
At that point you do get some doubts and you know you’ve got to step it up again. But we knew we had a lot of time still and I think before they scored that goal, the game was very open and we looked like we could have scored some goals. We were confident that we just needed to keep going. Luckily the big man came on, he scored that goal and it gave us a bit of breathing room again. Then the boys closed the game out really well.

Giroud on scoring with his first two touches…
If I could do that in every single game, I would be the most happy man. I’ve been lucky today - I had great assists from my team-mates, so I always try to finish the job well. It’s a big time for me because I’m coming back from a tough injury and I’m very happy to get back on the pitch. It’s nice for myself and the team. To score is always important for a striker.

Ox on setting up the first goal - and if he should have scored himself later on…
Yeah, in the second half more so. I had a few good opportunities and I think with one of them, I didn’t realise I had a bit more time to take the ball inside and then I snatched the shot a little bit. But I’m happy I’m getting into more of those positions to score goals, and I’ve got to keep getting myself in there and hopefully finish them off a bit better than I did today.

Giroud on putting down a marker by going top…
We’ve only played a quarter of the league. It’s still the beginning of the league and I’m not the man who will speak too much because we are first. We enjoy this position, obviously we want to finish first and win the league, but we know there is a long time to go. We’re in a good moment and we need to keep it up and be consistent.

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