Arsene Wenger has explained why he handed the captains’ armband to Olivier Giroud. Giroud again came to the rescue for Gunners as he scored the winning goal against Preston to send the North Londoners into the next round.
Giroud has been on a scoring spree since Wenger decided to give him a start. The 30-year-old has now scored four goals in his last four matches. He had been kept most of the time on the bench by the French manager this term as he preferred Alexis Sanchez in the centre forward position.
Callum Robinson gave the lead to the home side while Aaron Ramsey equalised for the visitors. Giroud scored the winner with a superb finish to fire the Gunners to the next round. He also scored Arsenal’s equaliser in the last match against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Wenger said, “He has scored many goals recently. Everybody contributes and he’s in good form at the moment. It’s 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.”