Arsene Wenger’s songs of praise for saviour Olivier Giroud

Arsenal 1, WestBrom 0: Relief. It’s lucky Arsenal have a hold over West Brom, having only lost once in 12 previous meetings with the Baggies.

But as this game looked to be petering out to a goalless draw and yet another indication that the Gunners lack the credentials to be serious title challengers, up popped Olivier Giroud with just four minutes left.

Handed his first Premier League start of the season by Arsene Wenger, the France international rose with the sort of grace that belied a game that proved more testing than it should have if those title chances are to be in any way realistic.