OLIVIER GIROUD hailed his best goal ever after stunning Crystal Palace with a wonder striker.
And he admitted that his ‘Scorpion Kick’ was inspired by the beauty Henrikh Mkhitaryan hit against Sunderland on Boxing Day.
Giroud said: "It is not difficult to say it is the best one.
"I was a bit lucky. But it was the only thing I could do.
"The ball was behind me and I tried to hit it with a backheel.
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"Maybe Mkhitaryan's goal inspired me, it's the only thing you can do in that position.
“It is nice for me and the team as we start the year with a win.
“First, Alexis gave me the ball behind me and I try to backheel and I have maximum luck.
“I was not in a good balance. I’ve never done this before, so it’s all about luck. I tried to deflect it, in this position you can’t do something else, I was lucky.”
Boss Arsene Wenger called Giroud’s stunner a work of art and said: “He transformed that goal into art — and art causes surprise because of the beauty of the movement and efficiency of the movement.
“Strikers are remembered for two or three goals and Olivier Giroud will be remembered for that goal forever.
“You cannot work on that in training. It’s just a reflex. It was an exceptional goal at the end of a movement. He brings the unexpected — and we all come to football for the unexpected.”
And the Arsenal manager happily ranked the opener up there with goals by greats Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu during his 20 years at the club.
He added: “I’ve been spoiled in my career.
“Bergkamp’s goals at Leicester and Newcastle, Henry against Real Madrid and Liverpool, Kanu at Chelsea. It’s difficult for me not to forget goals when you score 70 or 80 a year.
“Maybe it’s not acknowledged enough but Olivier scores important goals. He scores goals that carry weight.”
Furious Palace chief Sam Allardyce wants the Premier League to throw their weight around and SACK whoever made his side play twice in 48 hours.
They have a massive relegation scrap with Swansea at Selhurst Park tomorrow.
And Big Sam said: “Why can’t we play on Wednesday? I don’t know who does the fixtures but he really needs sacking.
“Swansea have 24 hours on us. You want a fair crack at it with so much at stake. The fatigue means players don’t recover.”
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