"It's another PL game with all that entails. QPR look decent at home, it's their away record that keeps them in the relegation zone, so I'm expecting a tough game. However, if we combine the commitment we showed on Sunday with a little more fluency up top, it's a winnable game."
That's what I said before the game and that was exactly what the Gunners did. This game was no walk in the park, though we really should have sealed the win after going 2-0 up. Three points are three points, though, and these were massive three points we got at Loftus Road. They allow us to stay a point above United (who had a lucky bounce again) and three above Liverpool. However, let's start at the beginning.
The squad and tactics
I honestly didn't anticipate some of the changes Arsene made. Gabriel kept his place, but instead of dropping Mertesacker, Wenger dropped Koscielny. Ramsey wasn't reinstated straight away, while Rosicky was preferred to the Ox. Sanchez and Cazorla, those who arguably needed a rest more than anyone else played the whole 90 minutes.
As for our game-plan, it looks like sitting back and absorbing the pressure in the opening stages happened by accident rather than design:
"I felt the first 25 minutes were very physical and they stopped us from playing. They had a direct game and for us it was important to put the ball on the ground and get good passes together and not only fight, but fight and play."
The beautiful thing about not playing the way we wanted for the majority of the first half is that we adapted. We understood that defending was the only option for the time being and so we defended. And were pretty good at it.
The first half
Nothing of note happened up until the 20th minute and that's a compliment to our defenders. QPR had the ball, passed it around, but the closest they came to scoring was when Austin fired an effort wide from outside the box.
Our first chance came in the 22nd minute. Giroud found space for a shot from a tight angle only for Green to get down well to save. Immediately Austin saw his effort blocked by Ospina and you could sense the game was opening up.
However only two moments of interest happened before the whistle blew for half-time. First Phillips's inswinging cross was batted away by Ospina and then Giroud set up Cazorla only for the Spaniard's volley to be parried away for a corner.
The second half
We started it on the front foot and I wasn't really surprised by that: QPR gave a lot during the first 20-25 minutes and it was a question of when, rather than if, the intensity of their game drops.
60 seconds into the half we should have seen a penalty and QPR reduced to ten men. Our move started on the right flank where Rosicky fooled everyone and burst into the box. His consequent low cross was destined for Ozil, who would have had to just tap the ball in. The German didn't and replays explained why: he was simply hauled off his feet by Karl Henry. Had Friend been even a remotely competent referee, he would have shown Henry a second yellow and awarded us a penalty. You noticed how I used a conditional here? That's because Kevin Friend did nothing of the above and the game went on.
We continued poking and probing and Alexis was close to opening the scoring twice in the follow-up. He first hit the post and then dilli-dallied his way through the defense only to poke his effort wide.
But the goal did come. In the 63rd minute Alexis created space for Gibbs to exploit, the Englishman fired a fierce shot straight into the post and then Giroud was first on the rebound. 1-0.
The goal broke the dam and chances came flooding in. It was all us for another 15 minutes or so. Fired up by his contribution Sanchez created three more chances in the next six minutes: one shot was parried by Green, another was actually a pass to Ozil, when Sanchez should have scored after he and Giroud forced an error from Caulker and his third was a goal.
The Chilean received a pass from Ozil, stormed into the box from a tight angle, feinted left, feinted right and then lashed a low shot between the defenders that went in. At first I didn't understand what happened. The angle was so tight I thought it was impossible to score from it. Replays showed it wasn't.
We could have a third minutes later. Bellerin's cross ended up with Ozil, the German sent the defender to the year 3000 and unleashed a shot destined for the far corner. Only a combination of brilliant goalkeeping and a post denied Ozil.
But it wasn't over yet. In the 82nd minute Austin got on the end of a pass on the edge of the box, spun around and shot to make it 2-1. I initially thought Gibbs was guilty for allowing Charlie so much time and space. The replays demonstrated Kieran was actually doing the right thing by moving away from Austin in an attempt to mark the wide man. It was Koscielny who was tasked with putting pressure on the QPR's striker and the Frenchman made a complete mess of it. I also wonder whether Ospina could have done better with this one. Albeit the shot was powerful, the Colombian was standing in the right corner. Oh well.
QPR smelled blood after this goal, but, luckily, they haven't been able to do anything sensible in the time remaining even when they had the ball. 2-1 it ended.
The aftermath
It was a massive win. Every other team from the top seven has won and doing likewise allowed us to keep the status quo. We have also played some very good football in the second half and have built a bit of momentum ahead of our clash with United in the FA Cup.
Finally, a special mention should go to Alexis Sanchez. He has that "never-give-up" attitude and it pays off:
"He never gives up and that’s the strength of a good striker as well. He’s resilient and I don’t know what happened before because it looked like, for someone who was desperate to score, he could have taken the chance and he waited for somebody. After that, the fact that he could still score shows that he has the mental strength to respond."
There was only one downside to this game: Gabriel sustained a hamstring injury that will keep him out for the minimum of three weeks. Which is a real shame, he looked very good prior to the injury. Mercifully, we now have some depth to our squad, so fingers crossed we won't miss Gabriel much. By the way, there's a good article on him (and our defense) written by Dave Seager. Check it out, well worth your time and attention.
That's it for now, back with a preview most likely.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
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Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
And subscribe using the form on the right