LONDON -- Three points from the Emirates where Arsenal claimed a 3-1 victory over Sunderland on Saturday evening.
1. Giroud saves his own blushes
A regular accusation against Olivier Giroud is that the Arsenal striker allows his head to drop too easily when the fates conspire against him. This time, though, the Frenchman made himself match-winner and hero when finding inner strength through ill-starred adversity.
Having scored at the wrong end for Sunderland's equaliser, it was Giroud who put his team 2-1 up when nodding in Aaron Ramsey's cross, a moment to savour for a player who suffers his fair share of criticism and whose goal output had recently slowed.