Three Talking Points From QPR 1-2 Arsenal : The Gunners Starting To Show Resilience Away From Home

Arsenal stayed in third place and extended their winning run in the Premier League to four games thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez. The home side started strongly but the Frenchman opened the scoring just after the hour mark after poking home Kieran Gibbs’s shot, which was blocked. Sanchez scored for the first time in nine games to double the Gunners lead. Although Charlie Austin late goal gave them some hope of a comeback, it was simply too little too late

The result leaves the visitors on course for automatic Champions League qualification, as they are currently a point ahead of fourth-placed Manchester United, and three points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool. While defeat means that QPR are now in the bottom three, three points behind Aston Villa with a game in hand.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

1. Arsenal starting to show resilience away from home

After winning just two of their opening six away games in the league, the Gunners have massively improved their away record, which is one of the reasons why they are in third place at the moment. Although QPR dominated the first half and the Gunners were far from convincing, they came into the second half with a point to prove and two goals in the space of five minutes certainly did and from then onwards, there was no looking back as Arsene Wenger’s side secured their seventh away win of the season.

Even though they are still conceding goals, since the addition of Francis Coquelin, they seem to have added a bit of resilience and fight to their game, which is especially crucial in away games. Although they have lost to Southampton and Tottenham this year, they have collected 21 out of a possible 27 points in 2015 and look as though they are on course to finish in the Champions League positions once again.

Even though QPR got their first away win and point of the season under Chris Ramsey, given their tough home fixture list from now till the end, it looks as though they might still be going down. Although they have scored 28 goals in the league, which is more than any other bottom-six side at the moment, their propensity for conceding has meant that they are currently in 18th place, three points off 17th placed Aston Villa.

Charlie Austin’s goal scoring frequency has diminished, even if he is their main goal threat and scored on Wednesday. They are continuing to concede a lot more goals and the worrying thing for them is that, most of them aren’t wonder goals or strikes that they could do nothing about, but merely mistakes defensively and if it weren’t for Robert Green in goal, their goal difference, would be much worse than the -19 it is at the moment. Unless they start winning away from home, the London side are a certainty to go down, which would probably finish the relegation battle much earlier than usual.

3. Sanchez finally breaks his duck

Alexis Sanchez’s run of seven games without a goal prompted many to wonder whether the Chilean attacker needs a break. The 26-year-old who is the club’s leading goal scorer this season, has looked off the boil over the past few weeks. Whether that is due to a burnout from a long season plus World Cup plus so many games or not, the 26-year-old certainly wasn’t himself in the past few games even though  he started 2015 on fire with three goals and two assists in his opening two games.

But the game against QPR was a example as to why you should never count him out, as he can always provide a little moment of inspiration out of nowhere. Although he missed a golden opportunity just before that, the Chilean attacker kept his calm and gave the keeper the eyes to settle his and the club’s nerves. Arsenal will need more from him in the coming weeks, not only in the FA Cup, but also in the Champions League second leg where the Gunners are going to need plenty of goals to progress.