Olivier Giroud repaid Arsene Wenger’s faith by following his ­Champions League nightmare with the goal which helped Arsenal back into third place.

Striker Giroud missed all six of his chances in a midweek horror show against Monaco – and was ­unceremoniously hooked by his manager after 65 minutes.

And it looked like deja-vu all over again when he headed the Gunners’ first opportunity in Sunday's win over Everton wide from six yards in a nervy start at the Emirates.

But the £13million Frenchman finally found the net with a volley before the break – and Arsenal wrapped up a seventh consecutive home win in the league with a late deflected strike from Tomas Rosicky.

They still showed the frailties which cost them in Europe and a team with more confidence than Everton could have punished such defensive uncertainty.

There was a feeling of relief shared by manager, players and home crowd at the final whistle after normal domestic service was resumed at the end of a trying week.

No one will have felt that more than Giroud, who now has 12 goals this season.

“Arsene Wenger gave me the chance to bounce back,” he said.

“We wanted to do that together and I think we did well this ­afternoon. We will take things step by step. We just want to focus on our games, to keep doing what we are doing.”

Misfiring Gunner: Giroud roars in frustration as another chance goes begging against Monaco (
Image:
David Price)

Wenger dropped scapegoat skipper Per Mertesacker but insisted he had not considered taking Giroud out of the line of fire.

“I defended Olivier Giroud because nobody misses chances on purpose,” he explained. “Everyone misses chances and even if strikers don’t score, if you finish nil-nil it’s still a good result. He deserved his goal.

“I’m not just happy because he scored but for his work-rate from the first to the last minute as well. Olivier has one great quality when he has his back to the wall – the personality and the strength to respond.

“Because I know him better now, it’s one of the reasons I kept him in the team. He acknowledged he missed his game and when he is conscious of it, he will respond because he has the strength to do it.”

Arsenal 2-0 Everton in pictures:

Everton were set up to harry and hassle into more mistakes a team still in shock following the trauma of midweek.

Brazilian defender Gabriel, making his first Premier League start, was robbed by Romelu Lukaku and it needed David Ospina to rush out of goal to show his centre-backs how to make a tackle.

But a rare piece of classy defending proved the ­catalyst for the opening goal.

This time, Gabriel made an immaculate interception as Lukaku bore down on goal after 38 minutes – and leapt to his feet immediately to start a ­counter-attack and lift the crowd.

“His was an encouraging performance overall,” said Wenger.

From a resulting corner, Mesut Ozil provided the assist for Giroud to fire home.

Everton’s introduction of winger Aaron Lennon, on loan from Spurs, in the second half brought predictable Arsenal boos – and added impetus to their play.

But Rosicky came off the bench to shoot home off the unlucky Phil Jagielka on 88 minutes and ensure another defeat for Roberto Martinez’s team, who have won just once in 11 Premier League fixtures.

“I think the second goal was a reflection of our season,” said the Everton manager. “We have six players in good position and it ends up in the back of the net.

"You read the 2-0 scoreline but it doesn’t reflect our game and that’s story of our season.”