Olivier Giroud proved himself to be a leader for Arsenal once more on the day he wore the armband for the first time, according to Arsene Wenger.
Giroud continued his streak of late goals, four of his nine this season have been scored after the 85th minute, with a winner in the final seconds of normal time to secure a 2-1 comeback win for Arsenal at Preston North End.
With Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Santi Cazorla – the usual captaincy trio – out with injuries Wenger handed the captaincy to Giroud, who had spent much of the early months of the season in the treatment room or on the Arsenal bench.
Recent weeks have seen Giroud make the most of a run in the starting XI, scoring the winner against West Brom and striking in added time to secure a remarkable comeback draw at Bournemouth, and Wenger praised the 30-year-old’s response to adversity, noting it as proof of his “leadership qualities”.
“He has scored many goals recently,” Wenger said of Giroud. “Everybody contributes and he’s in good form at the moment. It has been goal after goal.
“I like to rotate the captaincy. He went through a period of discomfort when he didn’t play and that was quite long but he kept his focus and worked. He’s shown leadership qualities and that’s why he was captain.”
Giroud’s late goal helped Arsenal to secure a win at Deepdale that even their manager conceded they did not entirely deserve.
Preston, 11th in the Championship, had rattled their opponents in the first half and were left regretting the fact that Callum Robinson’s sixth minute strike was all they had to show for the dominance they exerted on Arsenal.
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