The France international scored twice in the first half as the Gunners coasted to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Aitor Karanka's men at the Emirates Stadium.
The victory puts the FA Cup holders into the quarter-finals of the competition and Wenger was quick to praise his match-winner for his contribution.
"Olivier Giroud was very sharp. He has improved a lot compared to the player he was when we he arrived here," he told BT Sport.
"He is mobile, technically good, and he works with great focus in training. He has become a top player."
Two goals in two minutes from the striker just before the half-hour mark put Arsenal in control of the game and Wenger said their good start to the match was key to victory.
"We started well with a good pace and we controlled the game well with our movement and technical quality," explained Wenger.
"We had good team focus overall, we maybe lost our cohesion a little bit at 2-0 but I am happy. Overall we were serious and focused over the whole game.
"We had a good day but Middlesbrough are a good side, it was important for us not to let them come back to 2-1 because they are good technically and are organised, they are a good team."
Wenger was also pleased with new signing Gabriel who made his debut against Middlesbrough following his January move from Villarreal.
"Gabriel Paulista made a great recovery tackle in the box. He wants to defend, he has good urgency levels and a good physique and technical qualities," he added.
"He is short language-wise but the intelligent players compensate with vision. He looks at what his partners are doing, and he did that well."
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