Olivier Giroud says Arsenal want to continue their winning run and challenge Chelsea for Premier League title

  • Arsenal beat Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday
  • Win was Arsenal's eighth in a row in the Premier League
  • Olivier Giroud wants Arsenal to maintain charge and challenge Chelsea
  • Arsenal play Chelsea in their next league game at the EmiratesĀ 

No other scoreline could have emphasised how seriously this new Arsenal team are taking their prospects of winning major trophies again.

'One-nil to the Arsenal' used to be commonplace before Arsene Wenger arrived and made everything more exciting, and you sensed the class of 2015 quite enjoyed travelling north and nicking the narrowest of victories at Burnley with a first-half goal from Aaron Ramsey.

It was Arsenal's eighth win in a row, their best run since the Invincibles team in 2004, and kept the pressure on Chelsea, who they meet in their next league game at the Emirates.


Only once before this season have Arsenal won 1-0 but striker Olivier Giroud feels the hard-fought victory proved there is more to this current Wenger team than pass-pass-pass and dissolve when the going gets tough. In other words, they are built to last.

Olivier Giroud wants Arsenal to continue their Premier League winning streak and challenge for the title

Olivier Giroud wants Arsenal to continue their Premier League winning streak and challenge for the title

'You can't play your best football every game. We tried to be focused on not conceding and it's one more clean sheet,' Giroud said proudly.

'As long as we were winning the game I don't think we were in too much danger. We are really pleased.

'If we had been told we would win this game 1-0 I would have signed for it straight away. Burnley played really tough against us. It was a big fight.

'We know about the record of the Invincibles. It's really good for us to be near that and I'm really proud to take part. But we don't want to stop here. We want to carry on and keep this good run going until the end.'

Aaron Ramsey's 12th-minute strike was enough for Arsenal to earn a 1-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday

Aaron Ramsey's 12th-minute strike was enough for Arsenal to earn a 1-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday

The win was Arsenal's eighth in a row and they kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea

The win was Arsenal's eighth in a row and they kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea

If Arsenal manage that, Jose Mourinho might have a far tighter finish to the title race than he could have anticipated a couple of months ago.

Wenger has even found his own Claude Makelele in 23-year-old Frenchman Francis Coquelin who sat in front of the back-four and kept Burnley's chances to a minimum on Saturday. Club legend Thierry Henry even gave him a new nickname 'The Detective' for the way he sensed danger and snuffed it out.

'I always knew I could do a job for the team. I just needed a chance to show it,' said Coquelin, who was sent loan to Charlton earlier this season.

It's ironic that having preached the beautiful game for nearly two decades Wenger has finally found a couple of warriors in Laurent Koscielny and Coquelin that hark back to the Tony Adams era.

Arsene Wenger's side face Chelsea in their next home game and have an FA Cup semi-final to look forward to

Arsene Wenger's side face Chelsea in their next home game and have an FA Cup semi-final to look forward to

Even if they can't catch Chelsea this time they will fancy a proper tilt at the Premier League next season and by then they might be back-to-back FA Cup winners. They won the trophy last May and face Reading in another semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.

'We have a better balance in the team,' Wenger said. 'Coquelin contributes to that, Hector Bellerin has come into the team and big players like Koscielny, Giroud and (Mesut) Ozil were out for four months in the season. People forget that.

'I also have a quality bench and quality players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mathieu Debuchy who didn't travel. We have a big squad and I think we have quality.'

Francis Coquelin was praised for his performance in midfield with Thierry Henry calling him 'the detective'

Francis Coquelin was praised for his performance in midfield with Thierry Henry calling him 'the detective'

SUPER STATĀ 

360 - days since Arsenal's last 1-0 away win in the Premier League. That was in March 2014 against Tottenham when Tomas Rosicky scored the winner.Ā 

The Arsenal manager is playing down chances of overtaking Chelsea: 'We have to be perfect' ā€“ but the Emirates will still be buzzing in a fortnight when the top two clash.

For Burnley, it will be matches against Hull City, Leicester City and Aston Villa in the next five weeks that determine their Premier League survival prospects rather than this result.

Striker Ashley Barnes, who was twice denied an equaliser by goalkeeper David Ospina, said: 'If we could have got something against Arsenal it would have been a bonus. But we get cracking again next weekend against Everton.'

The return of Matt Taylor as a late substitute was also a boost for the Clarets. Taylor has missed eight months with an achilles injury but his experience will be extremely valuable in the run-in.Ā 

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