Published: 20 August, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger says Olivier Giroud “needed” his goal against Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

The French forward opened the scoring at Selhurst Park with an acrobatic scissors kick as Arsenal kick-started their league campaign with a 2-1 win. 

Wenger said he was pleased with the team’s performance, adding that Giroud’s opener will boost his confidence ahead of what promises to be a long and testing season.

“He needed that goal,” he told Arsenal Player. “We have good strikers. Theo Walcott was not used against Palace and he’s an exceptional striker. We have Danny Welbeck coming back, and we also have Alexis. 

“We have a strong striking force. What is important is that we show the team performance, like we did against Palace. 

“We had some very good moments in the game and going forward we were magnificent. We are still not capable of maintaining it for the full 90 minutes,  but that will come. 

“I’m very happy with our response following the opening day defeat against West Ham. 

“Our game was fluid and we created many chances,” Wenger added. “We have also shown important aspects in our game that will be very important for the rest of the season.

“When they came back to 1-1 we had the mental strength to respond. And in the final part of the game when we had to dig in we did that as well. That’s all quite positive.”