By: Romeo Ndlovu

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud displayed an alluring performance when he scored twice in a 4-1 drubbing of Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

It was clear from the start that the Gunners meant business when Giroud scored the opener in the 5th minute after agreat pass from Jack Wilshere.

The French man came back to complete his brace in the 32nd minute after a poor back-pass from centre back Santiago Vergini. The home side went rampant as Wilshere,Carzola and Giroud combination yeild great result which saw Rosiscky smashing a superb goal.

In the second half, Arsene Wenger’s boys continued where they left off, putting pressure on the visitors which saw Laurent Koscielny’s header going beyond Sunderland’s goalie Vito Mannone, leaving him with no chance. It was evident that the Gunners but they were caught off guard when Emanuele Giaccherini netted a scant consolation goal in the 82nd minute.

Thomas Rosiscky celebrates his goal against Sunderland on Saturday. Picture by Arsenal.com

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was pleased with his team performance.

“We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response today. We did the job in the first half and we scored two great,” Wenger said on the club website.

“I am very pleased for Rosicky because today Bergkamp got a statue and I think Rosicky took the Bergkamp role well.”

Meanwhile at the Etihad, Stoke City was able to absorb the pressure put on them by Manchester City throughout the first half resulting on both teams going to the half time with no luck in scoring goals.
In the second half, Yaya Toure scored the only goal of the match from the cross by Alexander Kolarov.

In another game, Chelsea collected maximum points to maintain their lead at the summit after grabbing a late winner against Everton with a goal from skipper John Terry in the 93rd minute at Stamford Bridge.