Montpellier HSC goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren has hailed the performance of former teammate Olivier Giroud during their Champions League defeat to Arsenal.
Giroud picked up two assists as goals from Jack Wilshere and Lukas Podolski earned the Gunners a 2-0 win over his old club at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
Despite preventing him from scoring, Jourdren admits that he is pleased with the way that Giroud has settled into life in England.
"We played well in the first half and caused a lot of problems for them," said Jourdren. "In the second half, we had 15 or 20 difficult minutes during which time we didn't manage to contain them. They scored two goals through individual efforts which hurt us and after that we knew it would be really hard. We have no regrets as we came up against a good Arsenal side.
"Olivier Giroud showed his talent again this evening. We knew him as a goalscorer and as a provider and this evening he provided assists.
"It's good for him and he's continuing to progress at a very big club. We're happy for him."
Giroud left Montpellier to join Arsenal in the summer for a fee of around £13m.
Matt Cotton
