Olivier Giroud speaks of "big relief"

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has described his side's narrow victory over West Bromwich Albion this afternoon as "a big relief".

Having been handed a rare league start by Arsene Wenger, the Frenchman made the difference with four minutes of normal time remaining to get the Gunners back to winning ways at the Emirates after back-to-back league defeats.

"It was a very good cross from Mesut Ozil and I just tried to finish the job," Giroud told reporters afterwards. "Today we were strong together, a strong mentality, it was important to win today and we showed a lot of strength.

"At home you have to win and even more so after two disappointing results so it was a very important game - we needed the three points. It is a big relief."

The result moved Wenger's men third in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Chelsea.