• Premier League

Giroud opens up over scandal

Olivier Giroud came off the bench to score twice against Everton © PA Photos

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Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud wants to move on from the scandal caused by allegations that he spent the night with an underwear model in the team hotel.

The French international was dropped by manager Arsene Wenger for two matches after reports emerged about the night before the clash with Crystal Palace last month.

But Giroud, who posted an apology to his wife, to Wenger and to the Arsenal fans, is keen to put the incident behind him and has thanked his manager for the way the situation was dealt with.

"The manager's support was very important for me. I was able to discuss things with him. It's good that there was a dialogue. Now I want to move on and make a fresh start," Giroud told L'Equipe.

"There were some things which were true, some things which were false. But I used the pitch as a release. I'm convinced that everything that's happened recently will make me stronger."

Giroud came off the bench to score twice against Everton in the 4-1 quarter-final win in the FA Cup on Saturday and has been facing increased competition for his place from Yaya Sanogo.

He hopes to put the recent controversy further behind him on Tuesday when a significant role in overturning Arsenal's 2-0 deficit against Bayern Munich in the Champions League would create a new talking point.

"Hopefully we can keep a clean sheet first because we need to keep our goal clean and maybe if we score early, why not?" Giroud told the official Arsenal website.

"We have a good chance if we believe in our quality, and if we put the same commitment in [as against Everton] and the same determination I think we have a good chance.

"Bayern are a really good team so it will be a tough game, but I think we have a chance to go through."

Giroud scored a third-minute goal at the Allianz Arena last year to set up a 2-0 Arsenal victory, and he says scoring early again will be vital.

"I definitely agree," he said. "It will put them under pressure and trying to score early in the game will be one of the keys in the game.

"We need to keep a clean sheet and we will need a lot of things together; to score goals, not concede goals and [to show] a really good commitment."

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