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Attendance: 59,975

Premier League

Jan 1, 2017 at 4pm UK

Arsenal
2-0
Crystal Palace

Giroud (17'), Iwobi (56')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Olivier Giroud 'inspired' by Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 01 January 2017

Olivier Giroud describes his scorpion-kick strike against Crystal Palace as being his best-ever goal, which he admits may have been inspired by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has revealed that he took inspiration from the recent goal scored by Henrikh Mkhitaryan when pulling off his own scorpion kick attempt.

The Frenchman lit up the Gunners' 2-0 win over Crystal Palace with his audacious goal from 14 yards out, less than a week after Manchester United ace Mkhitaryan produced a similar finish in the meeting with Sunderland.

Giroud was quick to admit that it was the best goal he had ever scored, helping Arsenal to a second win in succession after their recent disappointing run of form.

"It is not difficult to say it is the best one," he told BBC Sport. "I was a bit lucky but it was the only thing I could do, the ball was behind me and I tried to hit it with a backheel. Maybe [Mkhitaryan's] goal inspired me; it's the only thing you can do in that position. It is nice for me and the team because we start the year with a win.

"We were struggling a bit when we came back from the dressing room so it was nice to finish off the game and keep the ball. We have a few games to come before the very important Chelsea one so we want to to keep winning before we go to Stamford Bridge."

Giroud has now scored five goals in 12 Premier League appearances this season, including two in his last two following his late winner against West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.