Giroud and Wenger claims Player and Manager of the month awards

Giroud and Wenger with their awards

Arsenal have scooped a Premier League awards double after Arsene Wenger claimed the Manager of the Month award for March and striker Olivier Giroud took the Player of the Month gong.

Wenger's men continued their assault on the Champions League places with four consecutive league wins last month, beating both Everton and West Ham at the Emirates as well as claiming away successes at QPR and Newcastle.Taking 12 points from a possible 12, the Gunners moved six points clear of fifth place Liverpool in the run for a top four spot, while also moving just one point behind champions Manchester City, who lie second.

French hitman Olivier Giroud picked up the player award after netting five goals in his four league appearances.

In picking up the award the France international - who also scored for Les Bleus during the recent international break - stopped Tottenham star Harry Kane from becoming the first player to claim three consecutive Player of the Month crowns.

Newly-capped England international Kane also struck five times in four matches for Spurs, a sequence which featured a first Premier League hat-trick for the 30-goal striker - in Spurs' 4-3 win over Leicester City.

But Giroud's consistency over the month - scoring in each of Arsenal's matches - earned him the award instead.The former Montpellier centre-forward opened the scoring in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton, before netting another in the 2-1 win over QPR at Loftus Road.

He followed that up with a clinically-taken opener in the 3-0 win over the Hammers,before nabbing both in the 2-1 win on Tyneside.

Source: Mirror