Wenger hails Giroud’s ‘strength of character’ after Arsenal win

Arsene Wenger insisted that he had “no hesitation” in restoring Olivier Giroud to his starting line-up for Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Sunderland.

The French striker, who sat out the Gunners’ last two games, instantly repaid his manager’s faith by scoring twice and setting up another in the first half of the comfortable victory over the Black Cats.

I had no hesitation about his strength of character

Arsene Wenger

And Wenger was full of praise for the 27-year-old’s resilience following his recent off-field issues.

“I had no hesitation about his strength of character,” said Wenger.

“Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals.

“One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well.”

Wenger also expressed his satisfaction at the manner of his side’s win as they recovered from their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in midweek.

“We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response,” he continued. “We did the job in the first half and we scored two great ‘Arsenal’ goals; one of them scored by Giroud, the other by Tomas Rosicky.

“I am very pleased for Rosicky because today Dennis Bergkamp got a statue and I think Rosicky took the Bergkamp role well. Certainly Dennis will have been pleased to have seen him play.”