Arsene Wenger says Arsenal produced a very positive second half display against Queens Park Rangers as goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez sealed a 2-1 win at Loftus Road.
The Gunners struggled to maintain possession in a frustrating opening 45 minutes but overcame early nerves to create a host of opportunities after the break.
Mesut Ozil came close to the third with a shot that Rob Green pushed on to the post before Charlie Austin swung momentum the way of the home side with a strike nine minutes from time.
Speaking after the game, Wenger told the BBC he was pleased with his side’s ‘collective’ game:
“We needed to be strong and get the ball down more, to get back to our game, and we did that better in the second half, I felt it was all us.
“We scored two but we could have scored more, we played very well in the second half, and our collective game as a group was good, the chances we created were good and we played with a lot of desire and belief, overall it was a very positive game.”
The boss also reserved special praise for Sanchez, who ended a seven game run without a goal with a fine winner. Speaking in his post-match press conference, he added:
“When you don’t score it is on your mind but he took his chance well. He scored a good goal. He never gives up. He’s resilient and he’s desperate to score. He has the mental strength to respond.”
K
What does Potassium have to do with this?
Absolutely brilliant reply. Well done. Hahahahahaha!!
Now who can argue with that?
N
Meh.
Good solid win. Even if a little too close for comfort at the end. On to Manure !! We owe them one in the FA Cup
3 points is all I care about. The race for 2nd to 5th is too close to call so all that matters is the maximum points
That’s true, isn’t it. And it’s not like the other teams are playing all that convincingly either, is it? United and City labored to their wins against opposition they, too, should be beating handily.
So, I think it’s only fair we put a nervy performance in some perspective, and yes, we responded really well in the second half until their goal.
I’m starting to wonder if Manchester United *spit* will luck their way to a top 4 spot. They won thanks to a Krul howler, almost scored when Wayne Rooney was a couple of yards offside, and got away when Smalling conceded a clear penalty.
Apart from their goal, I thought we were great, defensively sound, good passing, good energy, good concentration.
Very impressed at a place we haven’t done well at recently.
Agree. Not really sure why Gibbs ran away from Austin to cover the pass to open up the space for the goal. Wonder if Kos thought he was close enough to cover and gave Gibbs a shout to go wide. Think Gibbs could have closed off the lane and closed down Austin at the same time.
Regardless of Gibbs’ position I think Koscielny was the one who was more in the wrong on the Austin goal. He should have been much tighter to Austin, especially after those two or three times earlier in the match where Austin showed how quickly he can turn and get a shot off.
They are very.very very crap. Let’s smash the cunts!!
That feeling when you can bring a CB on for an injured CB.
Hope Gabriel has an angel looking over him.
Dat turn from Ozil in the box and shot with his right foot, tipped on to the post by Rob Green… so deserved a goal. What a move.
Good win lads, keep it up!
Is it just me or ManU are the luckiest team in the league – again a penalty denied to the opposition!
We really need to kick their butt in the cup, which makes them fade away in the top four race.
This is exactly what I’ve been thinking for the past 2 months. How the f#@k can a team that plays so consistently shite keep on walking away with points. It makes me sick to see how lucky they are. I can only hope that it’s us that go and derail their current run because with the sub standard game they’re playing that should surely be the only possible outcome.
Concerned Theo’s not getting a look in….would’ve thought he’d help win more comfortably when looking at his goal ratio since his return.
I know the argument is he doesn’t ‘defend’ but at same time, as other teams view him as a threat, he automatically negates a defender with them hanging back more to try and cover…..
I could be wrong, but I think with us sitting a bit deeper than in the past that Theo wouldn’t be as much of a threat. Even on our counter-attacks (with pacy players like Alexis and Ox/Welbeck in the squad) we tend to make a lot of passes during the buildup. If Theo just stands on the halfway line during their possession then we’re forced to lob it long for him, which we tend not to do (Arsenal 20th in PL in long passes). I think that Theo’s lack of technical ability/vision/passing are what are hampering his playing time as… Read more »
Agree. Also as Welbeck is a better header on the ball than Theo he brings more in that area of defense as well
Thought we were pretty shit in the first half, the ball squirming away constantly. Hats off to Arsene for getting them back on it after the half.
To be fair, we played much better in the last 20-25 minutes of the first half. We came out in the second with much the same attitude and improvement.
QPR has a heavy and energetic press on in the first half which denied Arsenal any time and space on the ball as well as closing the passing lanes. They couldn’t keep it up all game, though (if they had the fitness for it, they wouldn’t be in a relegation battle). By the end of the first half they just didn’t have the energy levels to close down rapidly and consistently, which afforded Arsenal’s creative players what they needed to shine. The most important thing today was to not become make mistakes due to frustration and be patient enough to… Read more »
It’s certainly the best thing to do with Coquelin playing instead of Arteta, even Arteta was hurried up to pass when teams press him and Coquelin isn’t as good a passer, he’ll learn though.
It was good to see Coq wearing protection
Ozil will possibly never win Player of the season while in England. he is the closest thing we have to Zidane. if you still don’t rate him, there is always Huddlestone