Olivier Giroud will keep his starting spot for Arsenal, says Ray Parlour
Tuesday 3 January 2017 14:30, UK
Ray Parlour expects Olivier Giroud to retain his starting spot for Arsenal following his stunning strike against Crystal Palace.
The French striker scored a superb scorpion-kick in his side's 2-0 win over Palace on New Year's Day but has been restricted to a substitute's role for the majority of the season so far.
However, he has started - and scored - in Arsenal's last two Premier League games and former Gunners midfielder Parlour thinks he will stay in Arsene Wenger's starting line-up.
"Certainly he is doing his job, when he does come off the bench he has an impact. You want your players to come off the bench and make an impact," Parlour told Premier League Daily.
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"All you have to do as a striker is score goals and it really puts the pressure back on the manager to say 'we have got to keep him in the side'. That goal [against Palace] was a very special goal.
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"I think it was just instinct. It was a poor ball, really, from [Alexis] Sanchez if you look back at it. The good thing about the goal was that he started it on the half-way line, Giroud, a little flick and then he made sure he got into that box as all good strikers do.
"The ball wasn't the best from Sanchez but he made something good of it and he knew what he was trying to do, but obviously coming off the bar made it look a little bit more special. He'll probably look back at the end of his career and say 'that is the best goal I have scored'. I'm sure he will keep his place."
Arsenal travel to Bournemouth on Tuesday night, live on Sky Sports 1, looking to move back above Manchester City into third place in the Premier League.
Ahead of that game, the Gunners sit just a point above Tottenham and Manchester United and Parlour believes they, along with City, must be wary of the competition for a top four spot.
"They've got to be worried about it. Every single team in that six - I put it down to six clubs who can get in that top four - are playing really well at the moment," he said.
"Manchester United are finding form, Tottenham have been excellent the last few weeks, Liverpool we know about. It was a bad result for them against Sunderland, but they have excellent players who have been brilliant to watch this year.
"Man City have got to be careful as well, I'm sure they will be looking at the defensive side of it come the new year and looking forward.
"But for Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger said, you've got to win your next game and hope people slip up. They have a decent run of games now to get points on the board and they'll just be hoping Chelsea and Liverpool slip up and they can take advantage of that."
