Ten-man Arsenal have held on to edge out Queens Park Rangers 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium to get their top-four hopes back on track.
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It looked like the home side were going to take an early lead when Arsenal won a penalty less than 10 minutes in after Alexis Sanchez was brought down by Armand Traore.
However, Sanchez's spot kick lacked power, leaving Rob Green with a comfortable stop to his left to keep the sides level.
The Gunners got a free kick from a dangerous position with just under half an hour gone, but Green once more got across to palm Olivier Giroud's curling effort clear.
QPR started to see more of the ball as the half progressed, but the hosts broke the deadlock shortly before the break when Kieran Gibbs crossed the ball in for Sanchez to head past Green.
Steve Caulker almost got the visitors, who have no points away from home so far this season, back on level terms, but his header was just wide after he fought his way past Per Mertesacker.
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QPR were given a real route back into the game less than 10 minutes after the restart when Giroud was shown a straight red card after reacting angrily to Nedum Onuoha's challenge, leaving the referee who was situated just a yard away from the incident with little choice.
Buoyed by the additional man, the R's pushed for an equaliser, although having made a decent shooting position substitute Junior Hoilett saw his effort end closer to the corner flag than the back of the net.
Arsenal managed to dig in and they added a second goal to their tally shortly after to create some breathing space, with Tomas Rosicky's deflected shot getting the better of Green following some fine individual play by Sanchez.
Danny Welbeck could have made certain of the points when the ball was cut back to him 20 minutes from time, only for his effort to end down the throat of Green who kept it out.
For the second time in the evening Harry Redknapp's side were given a glimmer of hope when awarded a penalty following Mathieu Debuchy's challenge on Hoilett inside the box, although replays showed that the Frenchman won the ball cleanly.
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Charlie Austin tucked away the spot kick for his 10th goal in nine outings for Rangers, and that led to a late bombardment from the visitors.
Niko Kranjcar saw his effort fly over the bar, before Mauricio Isla saw his goalbound header blocked away by Mathieu Flamini as the clock ticked down.
There could have been a dramatic twist in added-on time as Bobby Zamora went down under the challenge of Gibbs, although the referee waved away appeals with the Gunners seeing out the remaining time.
The victory lifts Arsenal to within two points of a top-four place, while QPR are now two points above the relegation zone.
Daniel Lewis
