Sanchez ends goal drought as Arsenal beat QPR

A week ago Arsenal suffered one of the worst nights in Europe in the club's history. A week later they took on a very different opposition in the form of relegation threatened QPR. The hosts made life difficult for us in the first half but we came alive in the second as goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez sealed all three points despite Charlie Austin's late goal. The win means we remain in third position in the league table with the battle for the top four hotting up. At one point it looked as though we were going to extend our lead over Manchester United but a late goal in their game over Newcastle saw them keep the gap to just one point between them in fourth and us in third. Changes were expected and Wenger obliged. Tomas Rosicky came in for Oxlade-Chamberlain whilst Mertesacker returned to the starting line-up in place of Koscielny. Ramsey was back amongst the subs whilst Monreal missed out through a slight back strain and Szczesny through illness.

Sanchez returned to form against QPR

Arsenal had taken a while to get going against Everton at the weekend and the story was similar against QPR. I wouldn't say it was one of the worst halves of football I've seen from us this season but without the likes of Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott in the starting XI we lacked pace. For that reason it probably explains why we lacked any energy in the first half and why it was a very uneventful 45 minutes to start the game off. The hosts weren't afraid to battle and they did make life hard for the defence at times. Gabriel had to go off early with an injury, but up to then Charlie Austin and Bobby Zamora had done very well at physicalising the forward line for QPR. They acted as focal points from with which they held the ball up well and kept us out the game. Because of the lack of pace it meant that when we got the ball we didn't have anyone to really drive the team forward. Ozil is a very good player but sometimes his transitional play can be quite slow compared to the quicker and more livelier players in the side.

Now I'm not criticising Ozil there because I thought he had a very good game. Most of his play looked effortless and the majority of the attacks seemed to flow through him in the final third. The attacking players can be accused a little in the first half of not getting at their man enough and the only player that really did test their fullbacks was Hector Bellerin. Bellerin I thought was outstanding and he is quickly becoming a key player in this side; so much so that I think he'll keep Debuchy out of the team when he returns from injury.

It was when we finally got players at their back line that we eventually scored. Alexis Sanchez's second half performance was brilliant compared to the first, and when he got up against the young Furlong at right back we looked very dangerous. It was down that left hand side that both our goals came from. Kieran Gibbs was very lively in attack and he assisted each goal. His ball was blocked inside the penalty area and then Olivier Giroud was left with a simple task of finding the net from a matter of yards out for the first. The Frenchman's form in front of goal, excusing Monaco, has been brilliant since the turn of the year.

As mentioned Alexis Sanchez had a very good second half, and he was to score what proved to be the winning goal. Moments before his strike, he looked to have squandered a chance to put the game to bed. Giroud dispossessed Hill and the Chilean ran in on goal before attempting to square it to Ozil. Sanchez had taken too long however and Green was there to thwart him. If there was ever a sense of doubt over Alexis' quality he answered it minutes later. He had gone eight games without a goal until now but he didn't show any indication of that when he did indeed find the back of the net. Gibbs layed the ball into him and then he performed a mazy run into the penalty area before wrong-footing the keeper at his near post.

Arsenal's defence had gone relatively untroubled and it was only Charlie Austin who was really causing a threat. It was indeed Austin who found a way back for QPR, albeit a mere consolation in the end. He had shown on numerous occasions that he had the capabilities to shoot from range and we failed to close him down which resulted in a powerful effort beating Ospina. Similarly to the game against Palace it was disappointing to concede late on but thankfully we managed to hold on for a crucial three points.

Francis Coquelin played with a mask after passing doubts over whether he would feature after breaking his nose against Everton. That didn't seem to upset his rhythm though as he had another fine game in front of the back four.

Aaron Ramsey came off the bench late on which was encouraging and it would be a real bonus now if he could find some form after returning from injury. It is worth noting the quality of the Arsenal bench last night; the likes of Welbeck, the Ox, Walcott and of course Ramsey were all on it.

Our next game is arguably our biggest of the season; a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. It's a massive clash and because the game is on Monday night we have quite a bit of time to recover after our midweek exploits at Loftus Road. Our games against United in recent season's have been awful from our point of view but the fact we're one of the most inform sides in the League should give us encouragement to go there and get a result. Fingers crossed!

The team's line-ups:

QPR: Green, Furlong, Caulker, Onuoha(45), Yun, Phillips, Sandro(56), Henry, Hoilett(72), Austin, Zamora.
Subs: McCarthy, Hill(45), Isla(72), Kranjcar(56), Wright-Phillips, Vargas, Zarate.

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel(36), Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Rosicky(86), Sanchez, Ozil(90), Giroud.
Subs: Martinez, Koscielny(36), Chambers, Ramsey(86), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Welbeck(90).

My man of the match: Hector Bellerin.

Referee: Kevin Friend.
Attendance: 17,977