Hero Giroud wants more Arsenal progress

Seconds after the final whistle at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, the match ball had been scooped up by the man who had lit up the arena in Piraeus.

Olivier Giroud had just scored his first hat-trick for Arsenal to lead them past their 16th consecutive UEFA Champions League group at the expense of Olympiacos with a 3-0 win on a night when the Gunners needed a decisive away result.

"It was not so easy in this stadium, with this atmosphere, and we are really pleased to have done it," Giroud said. "It's nice to go through because we were not in a good position. It's the Champions League, it's one level up and we needed to all be focused."

The 29-year-old Frenchman attributed success to playing "as a unit, together, with good cohesion, defending well and finishing well" while Giroud was hailed by his manager Arsène Wenger for "skill and character" after a "perfect performance".

Now Arsenal's minds now turn to avoiding a sixth straight round of 16 exit and Giroud declared: "We want to go as far as we can. The target is to maybe reach at least the quarter-finals. It's the fourth year I have been here and we have never played in a quarter-final."

A 1-0 win would not have been enough for Arsenal to overturn the 3-2 home loss to Olympiacos in a head-to-head tiebreaker, and Giroud's second goal of the night was set up brilliantly by Joel Campbell. The Costa Rican winger received a warm welcome upon his return to Olympiacos, where he spent the 2013/14 season on loan.

"I am very happy to be back," Campbell told UEFA.com. "I am grateful to the fans of Olympiacos for their friendliness and warm reaction towards me, it was very touching."

Given his chance by Arsenal's lengthy injury list including fellow forwards Daniel Welbeck and Alexis Sánchez, Campbell started the Gunners' last three group games as they recovered from a poor start to qualify with Wednesday's victory. "It was a tough match, in special circumstances as we needed to score at least twice to advance," he said.

"That is far from easy against Olympiacos, as they are a strong side, especially in front of their fans. But we played a mature game from the start and got what we wanted. This season's group stage, having our back against the wall most of the time, should serve as a lesson for the future. No group is easy and lack of focus can be punished."

As for how Arsenal found a way to progress despite all their absent men, Campbell added: "It was important for the rest of the players to step up and take more responsibility. In a way, we played for them tonight and hope to have them with us in the next stages of the competition."