BPL: Giroud silences Arsenal's critics

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Olivier Giroud helped Arsenal silence their critics as the France striker's double inspired a much-needed 5-1 victory over West Ham on Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger's side had been subjected to scathing criticism from fans and pundits after successive defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea seriously damaged their bid to finish in the Premier League's top four.

Wenger was reported to have held crisis talks with his players this week and the Gunners looked set to hit a new low when Jack Collison gave West Ham a shock first-half lead at the Emirates Stadium.

But Arsenal bounced back in emphatic fashion, equalising through Lukas Podolski and then taking the points after Giroud sparked an astonishing spree of four goals in 10 second-half minutes, with Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott on the scoresheet before Giroud completed the rout.

Arsenal remain in sixth place but their first league win in four matches moves them within four points of fourth-placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

Barclays Premier League

Rnk		Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
1		Manchester United	23	18	2	3	57	30	27	56
2		Manchester City	23	15	6	2	45	19	26	51
3		Chelsea	23	13	6	4	47	22	25	45
4		Tottenham Hotspur	23	12	5	6	40	28	12	41
5		Everton	23	9	11	3	35	26	9	38
6		Arsenal	23	10	7	6	46	27	19	37
7		Liverpool	23	9	7	7	40	28	12	34
8		West Bromwich Albion	23	10	4	9	33	32	1	34
9		Swansea City	23	8	9	6	34	27	7	33
10		Stoke City	23	6	11	6	22	27	-5	29
11		Sunderland	23	7	7	9	27	31	-4	28
12		West Ham United	23	7	6	10	26	33	-7	27
13		Norwich City	23	6	8	9	24	39	-15	26
14		Fulham	23	6	7	10	33	40	-7	25
15		Southampton	23	5	8	10	30	40	-10	23
16		Newcastle United	23	5	6	12	28	41	-13	21
17		Aston Villa	23	4	8	11	19	44	-25	20
18		Reading	23	4	7	12	28	43	-15	19
19		Wigan Athletic	23	5	4	14	25	43	-18	19
20		Queens Park Rangers	23	2	9	12	18	37	-19	15