At the time, Arsenal were in a rampant mood, dominating the game from top to bottom, but holding a slender one goal lead.
The Gunners had come out in the first half and looked sharp and dangerous. Despite all their dominance, they created few direct chances on goal.
However QPR were in the mood for giving and the gift came from former Gunner Armand Traore, who fouled Alexis Sanchez in the box when he was dribbling away from goal.
Alexis inserted himself ahead of Santi Cazorla as penalty taker, only to deliver a tame effort easily saved by Robert Green.
This miss left the Gunners flat for awhile, but Alexis finally opened the score, heading home a cross from Kieran Gibbs (poor marking, a gift again from Armand Traore).
Arsenal continued to dominate in the second half, but couldn’t score and then Giroud was sent off.
Strangely, Arsenal continued to look the more dangerous and were finally rewarded when Alexis drew most of the defence his way and found an open Tomas Rosicky, who pulled the Gunners two clear.
QPR threw on more offensive players and started to look a little more dangerous, but their goal came from a somewhat generous call from Martin Atkinson.
Debuchy was penalized for tripping Junior Hoillet, although the contact was somewhat minimal.
As the game wound down QPR turned up the pressure and had a couple of half chances.
Flamini cleared off the line on one occasion and Gibbs brought down Bobby Zamora as the jostled for a cross.
I suspect referee Martin Atkinson had decided he’d been overgenerous on the first penalty and wasn’t going to call anything remotely questionable for the rest of the game.
The game ended and Arsenal secured all three points, however they had to fight for them in the end.
Player Ratings.
Szczesny 6. He really had most of the afternoon off and even at the end he seldom had to make a save. Could have done better on the penalty though. I also was perplexed why with a minute to go and having a free kick he thumped the ball upfield, rather than pass the ball to a nearby defender and keeping possession? QPR came right back down the field, won a free kick, which we had to defend with our hearts in our mouths.
Debuchy 7. He had a solid game both offensively and defensively, although one or two of his crosses were overhit. The penalty he conceded was a little careless.
Mertesacker 7. For most of the game he looked assured and made no major errors.
Monreal 7. He played very well all afternoon.
Gibbs 8. An assured performance from Gibbs, who was especially solid coming forward. He set up the first goal with a fine cross. Got away with a foul on Zamora at the end, but if he hadn’t done anything Zamora may have scored.
Flamini 7. A very good game from Mathieu. Made an important block off the line near the end of the match.
Cazorla 8. Excellent from Santi. He was effervescent, popping up all over and always looking dangerous. He’s playing really well right now.
Rosicky 8. His first game in ages, but he looked super. His passing was sharp, he pushed the ball forward, and he played good defence. On top of that, he scored the winning goal.
Welbeck 8. No, he didn’t score, but he looked dangerous most of the afternoon, ran hard and kept the defence on edge.
Giroud 4. He was okay in the first half, but his head butt was unacceptable. That could have cost us the game. Wenger could hardly look at him as he left the field.
Sanchez 9. Despite my score, we saw both the good and bad from Alexis. He gave the ball away a number of times and his penalty was something only Mesut Ozil would admire. However, he hounded the QPR team and created space and opportunities for others. He scored and assisted today.
Substitutes:
Chambers 5. Brought on, but had some difficulty dealing with Hoillet.
Coquelin 5. Was okay, but conceded a poor free kick at the end of the match.