Analysis: How Olivier Giroud returned to destroy Sunderland

Arsenal returned to winning ways after their Champions League disappointment, as they hammered Sunderland 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

The result was never in doubt as Arsenal took a returning lead through the returning Olivier Giroud, before the Frenchman doubled the advantage following a suicidal back-pass from Santiago Vergini.

Tomas Rosicky made it three five minutes before half-time with a fine team goal and the second half continued with the demolition, Laurent Koscielny getting in on the act with his first of the season.

Emmanuele Giacherrini netted a consolation with a 25-yard drive late on, but the day was Arsenal’s as they closed the gap to Chelsea to just one point once again following their 1-0 victory over Everton earlier in the day.

Match Stats

The match stats reflect the scoreline, as it was one way traffic in Arsenal’s favour, with the Gunners hitting the target with nine of their 12 shots on goal as Vito Mannone in the Sunderland goal was kept very busy.

Arsenal completed 90% of their passes over the course of the game, completing 609 in total, compared to the 298 Sunderland managed as they did exactly what Bayern Munich did to them on Wednesday.

Another key stat is Sunderland’s 39% tackle success rate as they just didn’t turn up until a half-time dressing down appeared to spark some fight into them, though it was already far too late by then.

Man Of The Match

What a difference a week’s rest has made to Olivier Giroud, as he was the star of the show against Sunderland, netting a brace to record his first goals in five games.

Those came from his only two attempts on goal, while he won four of his six aerial duels to impose the physical presence that was lacking from him as he tired in recent weeks.

The French forward repeatedly won his side fouls in important positions as Sunderland failed to get to grips with him, conceding seven free kicks against the returning striker.

Performance Score

The Squawka Performance Score chart shows exactly what we all know, in that Arsenal dominated from the word go and never looked back.

Sunderland were barely allowed a touch of the ball in the first half and went into the break with a 436 point difference between the two sides, while the game ended with 547 points separating them in a one-sided contest.

Key Observations

It’s often used as a get out clause for such a woeful performance, but you can only assume that Sunderland’s heads were already situated in Wembley ahead of their League Cup final against Manchester City, as they appeared absolutely uninterested in taking any part of the game to the Gunners.

Arsenal were at their imperious best and completed 609 passes over the course of the game, but Sunderland could have prevented such a demolition job with a bit of fight that could have jangled a few nerves in the Gunners’ camp.

Instead Sunderland as a team attempted just 28 tackles all game and won a miserable 11 as Arsenal were able to cut them apart with ease.

Santiago Vergini stood out as a particularly bad performance, attempting (and losing) just one tackle in the game, making just one interception and making that horrendous back-pass that gifted Giroud his second of the game, recording a performance score of -61.

Arsenal appeared a more cohesive unit in the midfield without Mesut Ozil and Tomas Rosicky had a fine game in his stead.

People can debate the reasons behind Ozil’s absence with the official line being a dead leg, but the focus could perhaps go on the midfielders that did play, with Mikel Arteta completing 108 of his 116 passes during the game after returning from suspension in midweek.

Tomas Rosicky also recorded a 93% passing accuracy as he completed 56 passes in the game, including two within seconds that allowed him to net his first Premier League goal of the season, one of two attempts on target over the course of proceedings.