Sunday 14 December 2014 08:05, UK
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was delighted to hear the home crowd cheer the name of Arsene Wenger during the 4-1 win over Newcastle.
Wenger has been the subject of criticism from some areas of the fan base following a sticky start to the season, including suffering abuse by a handful of supporters at Stoke station after last Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
However, there were chants of 'There's only one Arsene Wenger' being sung around the Emirates as Arsenal closed to within two points of third placed Manchester United in the Premier League and that was a positive sign for two-goal Giroud.
“It's nice to hear the fans supporting the boss and obviously it's a fantastic night for us and we're happy for that,” he said.
"It's always the same when you're losing, the first one in front of the criticism is the boss. We will always be all together, keep the faith, keep working hard and I think there's no thoughts about changing the boss, because he's still the man for the situation."
Giroud took his tally to six goals in five Premier League appearances against Newcastle, latching on brilliantly to two right-wing crosses from Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin.
The centre-forward put in a man-of-the-match performance and was delighted to be back amongst the goals after missing three months of the season with a broken leg.
“It was a really disappointing result [at Stoke] so we really wanted to bounce back as soon as possible and we did well tonight. It was great to show a strong mental reaction and I’m pleased to score.
“The first one is a fantastic cross from Alexis and I’m arriving in the right tempo. Maybe I remembered the one I missed at Stoke so I wanted to come back and it’s nice for me and the team. The second one I used to do it a lot when I can in training so it was a fantastic cross from Hector [Bellerin].”
