The Frenchman’s header was enough to see off BATE and send Chelsea into the last-32 of the Europa League. Giroud had not scored for Chelsea since May, as the striker went 794 minutes without finding the back of the net for the Blues.
The drought finally ended against BATE, and Giroud admitted an excellent cross from Emerson was key to helping him grab his first goal of the season.
‘The manager kept saying we need to finish first in the group, and the earlier the better so tonight we’ve done the job even if we could have been more efficient,’ he said.
‘It’s a clean sheet and we won the game. We defended very well and they defended cohesively so it was difficult to find solutions at times and stop them on the break.
‘I was hoping to score soon because I came back late from the World Cup and I was lacking maybe a bit of efficiency and luck but you always need to keep working hard and keep the faith and that’s what happened tonight.
‘A good cross from Emerson and that’s what we need to do more often.’ Chelsea were lucky to come away from the Borisov Arena with all three points, as BATE wasted several chances to get something out of the game.
BATE hit the post with the game level and then squandered a host of opportunities to snatch a late point.
Chelsea maintain their 100 per cent record in Europe this season and are now the only only unbeaten side left in Europe’s big five leagues this campaign. Everton are the next side to attempt to strip Chelsea of their undefeated record, as the Toffees travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday in the Premier League.