Giroud targets last eight as Arsenal reach knockout stages

Olivier Giroud’s first hat trick for the club took them through the group stage for the 16th successive year as they mastered a hostile atmosphere to pull off what had seemed an unlikely escape from elimination.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described his side’s performance in their 3-0 win over Olympiakos as “perfect”.

“When you can deliver something special, you can create something special for the rest of the season”.

With a two goal victory over Olympiacos, or a one-goal victory of 3-2 or higher, Arsenal would successfully advance out of the Champions League Group Stage.

Given his chance by Arsenal’s lengthy injury list including fellow forwards Daniel Welbeck and Alexis Sánchez, Campbell started the Gunners’ last three group games as they recovered from a poor start to qualify with Wednesday’s victory.

“I’m proud of consistency because it demands a lot of effort every day and I think that’s what it’s about”. At 2-0 we had to push for a third goal, it was too risky to stay at 2-0. We were in an escape mode before tonight.

Giroud headed the opener in the first half, then stroked home the second after good work by Joel Campbell.

Wenger insisted he had not looked at the last 16 options but he will undoubtedly want to avoid Real and Barcelona, who together with Bayern Munich are clear favourites to lift the trophy in Milan next May.

They weathered the early enthusiasm from the physical home side, who were backed by typically partisan support, and slowly seized the initiative with a composed performance. “You’ve seen teams struggle when they should be going through and winning”. “We made it so hard for ourselves, no-one really gave us any chance of getting through but the attitude in that dressing room was fantastic”.

“We want to go as far as we can”, said Giroud.

Giroud’s goals against Olympiakos took his tally to 11 in 14 appearances and his was a performance marked by bravery. “I always said he has something special on that front and he showed that again”. “The results come if we play well so let’s focus on that”. We had the opportunities to score but our goal was at risk. The target is maybe to reach the quarter-finals, it’s my fourth year here and I’ve never played a quarter-final so hopefully.