Alexis Sanchez saves Arsenal as Oliver Giroud sees red

London Alexis Sanchez helped maintain 10man Arsenals Champions League push as his manofthematch display condemned Queens Park Rangers to a 21 Premier League defeat on FridayArsenals Tomas Rosicky L celebrates scoring their second goal with Danny Welbeck R during the EPL match between Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers at the Emirates Stadium PicAFPThe Chilean forward went from zero to hero after squandering an early penalty and then putting Arsenal ahead with a 37thminute header Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud was sent off for violent conduct before Sanchezs mazy run carved out a second goal for Tomas RosickyCharlie Austins late penalty had nerves jangling at the Emirates Stadium but it was too little too late for QPR who fell to a recordequalling ninth straight away defeatIn a bid to end his sides woes away from Loftus Road QPR manager Harry Redknapp recalled Rio Ferdinand for the first time since October and he formed part of a new threeman defensive setup But those carefullylaid plans should have been thrown out of the window inside the opening eight minutesFormer Arsenal leftback Armand Traore among those called in by Redknapp tripped the allaction Sanchez for a clear penalty Sanchez stepped up instead of regular taker Santi Cazorla but saw his tame spotkick pushed out by QPR goalkeeper Rob Green who also scrambled away the reboundArsenal pressed and probed for an opener but a combination of lastditch defending and inaccurate final balls let them down Giroud went close from distance before forcing an acrobatic save from Green with a 28thminute freekickSanchez runIt was oneway traffic and the pressure finally told when Sanchez made amends by heading Arsenal into the lead Kieran Gibbs drilled a cross into the box from the left and Sanchez exploited inattentive defending from Traore to head home his 15th goal of the season It was the least the hosts deservedQPR had failed to register a meaningful attempt at goal but they did sound a note of caution as Steven Caulker headed Eduardo Vargass cross just wide before the break The visitors were given an unexpected helping hand when Giroud was sent off for a moment of madness in the 53rd minuteThe France striker took exception after Nedum Onuoha pushed him from behind as he chased a throughball and rose from the floor to headbutt the QPR defender right in front of referee Martin Atkinson who had no option but to send him off The angry look on Arsenal manager Arsene Wengers face as Giroud trudged past him spoke volumesThe incident threatened to turn the game on its head but instead Arsenal extended their lead via veteran Czech midfielder Rosicky in the 65th minuteSanchez turned creator with a wonderful run and pass that culminated in a delicatelyweighted pass for Rosicky who placed a deflected shot beneath Green to end his ninemonth wait for a goalThe game looked up for QPR but they were thrown a 79thminute lifeline when Mathieu Debuchy was harshly adjudged to have tripped substitute Junior Hoilett inside the penalty areaInform striker Austin did the rest slamming the spotkick down the centre of the goal to register his 12th goal of the campaign But besides a Vargas header that was scrambled clear and despite a nervous atmosphere inside the ground there was to be no grandstand finish as Wengers team saw out the game with relative ease