Giroud hits form at the right time
Olivier Giroud will a decisive factor in the final
Arsenal’s French forward has been criticised – and sympathised with – for the fantastic burden placed on his shoulders to get the goals to fire his team to the title. With no other senior option up front, Olivier Giroud was on the pitch for a greater proportion of the Premier League season just past (90.1%) than any other forward, and he went through predictable peaks and troughs in goalscoring form as a result.
He has, though, hit better form since he was rested for much of the semi-final, scoring 3 times and setting up another in Arsenal’s 5 games since then. He proved nigh-on unplayable for Norwich’s defence in the 2-0 win at Carrow Road last week and he displayed his strength, power and wonderful touch to create 2 chances and hit 4 shots himself.
24 of his 27 Premier League goals for the Gunners have come in the capital so there is every reason to believe he could be the difference. What is more, Giroud’s job is so much greater than simply finishing off chances, with the Frenchman having laid the ball off for a teammate more times than any other player in the Premier League this season (202). Only 1 player (Peter Crouch) comes within 50 of Giroud in this regard.
As an average rating of 7.53 over his past 5 appearances shows, Giroud has hit form at just the right time.
