Arsene Wenger said Olivier Giroud’s opener against Crystal Palace is in the top five Arsenal goals during his long reign as Gunners boss.
Giroud finished off a lovely team move with a spectacular ‘scorpion’ finish, hooking the ball over his head and into the net.
“I’ve been spoilt in my career, because I’ve had many great players and many great strikers. That is certainly in the top five,” Wenger said in his press conference after the 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.
“I remember Bergkamp, Henry – these special goals. Bergkamp at Leicester and at Newcastle. Thierry Henry against Real Madrid, against Liverpool – these kind of goals. Kanu at Chelsea.
“It’s difficult for me not to forget goals in 20 years, when you score about 70 or 80 per year. By 20 [years] makes 1,600 goals.”
The result moved Arsenal back into third in the Premier League, above rivals Tottenham, who won 4-1 at Watford earlier in the day.
Palace, meanwhile, remain one place and two points above the relegation zone, but manager Sam Allardyce remained upbeat about their chances of climbing away from trouble.
“Our season won’t be defined by results against the top six,” Allardyce said.
“What we do when we play the teams in the bottom half of the league will be the defining reason of whether or not we get out of the bottom half.
“I have every confidence in the players that it will turn around and hopefully as quickly as possible.”