Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hailed the mental strength of Olivier Giroud after the France striker marked his return to the side with a brace to help beat Sunderland 4-1.
Giroud had been left on the bench for the last two matches following a dip in form and some unwanted headlines about his private life.
However, the 6ft 4ins frontman delivered the perfect response with a first-half double.
“I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course, you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was because he scored two goals,” said Wenger.
Pirlo set to prolong stay at Juventus
Veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo told reporters he was ready to prolong his stay at Juventus.
Pirlo’s contract with Juve runs out in June and speculation was rife last week that he could return to Milan or join Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in Spain.
However, it seems his decision will be to stay in Turin.
“I’ve talked to Juve and we’ll meet up to define the details.
“There are all the conditions needed for me to stay... Juve are growing and we can achieve great objectives,” Pirlo said.
Heart topple A-League leaders
Melbourne Heart provided the biggest indication yet that they are capable of forcing their way into the A-League finals by beating leaders Brisbane Roar 1-0 at AAMI Park yesterday.
Unable to win a game during the first three months of the campaign, Heart have been transformed since John van’t Schip took over at the end of December.
Unbeaten since January 10, the narrow victory over the Roar – courtesy of Orlando Engelaar’s strike in the 61st minute – was their fourth straight and left them six points outside the finals places with eight rounds of the regular season remaining.
Malta striker Michael Mifsud was again unavailable for Heart as he’s not 100 per cent fit.
Martino errors
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino admitted resting key players was a mistake after the champions crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Martino left playmakers Xavi and Cesc Fabregas out of his starting line-up for the match in Sociedad and deployed defensive midfielders Sergio Busquets and Alex Song in the centre.
The decision backfired badly as Barca were unable to exert their customary control.
“Sociedad played well and I misread the game,” Martino, who was sent off at half-time after clashing with a member of the Sociedad coaching staff, said.
“We wanted to rotate the players so that everyone feels important.
“But it’s clear that rotations are only a good thing if they come off.”
Mourinho braced for Drogba reunion
Chelsea will find it strange to be up against their Champions League-winning hero Didier Drogba in Wednesday’s clash with Galatasaray, said manager Jose Mourinho.
While the London club’s players will maintain their friendship with the Ivorian before and after the match, they will be fierce rivals during the 90 minutes of the last-16 tie in Istanbul.
“It’s a strange feeling but we know him well and if you know him well you know that for him there are no friends during the game,” Mourinho said.
“For us, just before the game we will be big friends but during the game we will have a job to do.
“He has his nature and that nature is to want to win.”
Drogba is Chelsea’s record European scorer with 34 goals in 69 games.
Klopp says players were complacent
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp slammed his team’s mentality after their 3-0 Bundesliga loss at Hamburg on Saturday.
Faced with a side who had lost their last eight competitive fixtures, Klopp believes his players took the task too lightly, and were punished as a result.
“There’s an old saying that a good horse only jumps as high as he has to,” Klopp said.
“Well I hate this saying more than anything. I think a horse should jump as high as it can.
“We looked at how high we had to jump against Hamburg and, when we realised that it wasn’t so high, we had already fallen back.”
Rosler dedicates win to Watson
Manager Uwe Rosler dedicated Wigan’s 2-1 victory over play-off contenders Brighton to injured midfielder Ben Watson.
Watson suffered a double fracture to his right leg in the Latics’ previous 2-0 victory over Barnsley, and Rosler felt his players delivered the perfect response to the injury blow.
Goals in each half from James McArthur and Chris McCann gave Wigan their fifth win in six games in all competitions before a crowd of 27,470 at the Amex Stadium.
“This was a big win for us and it is dedicated to Ben Watson,” Rosler said.
“The reaction of the players to his injury was first class. They showed willpower to get that win and not to get beaten.”