Giroud pleased with Arsenal second finish

Olivier Giroud scored a hat trick and Arsenal added a late own goal as the Gunners rose above Spurs on the table for the 21st straight season. It was an emotional goodbye for longtime captain Mikel Arteta and stalwart veteran Tomas Rosicky.

Giroud certainly didn’t hold back when asked what he thought of finishing above arch rivals Tottenham.

“We were hoping to finish top three but to finish second is very nice,” Giroud told media after the 4-0 win over Aston Villa. “We are really pleased and hopefully next year we can grab one more place.”

Manager Arsene Wenger was even more direct. Although he said they “wanted to finish first” and “wanted to win more,” when asked about how it appeared for much of the year that Tottenham would finish above them, he responded, “Many seasons it looked like that.”