Wenger – We knew it would be hard but the points are vital for Arsenal

Arsenal may have scored after just 20 seconds in yesterday’s derby at Queens Park Rangers, but they then had to defend for the next 93 minutes to hang on to the crucial three points, even more so after Tottenhams last minute winner against Southampton.

Arsene Wenger admitted he thought it would be a tough match. He said after the game: “We scored early and started well. After that, QPR played with quality and pride. They were fearless. You could see that this side had played with special pressure and fear in recent months. They had the quality to stay in the Premier League and they made life difficult for us.

“We had good determination and focus. We lacked a few final balls in the final third. But I expected a difficult game and I was not disappointed. Sometimes when a team goes down they played well in the game after and win. You could see that as Reading won away from home. We need a special focus to win this game.

“The pitch did not help. I believe that QPR are a better team than people expects. But we did not give many chances away. Overall we played a little bit conscious that points were vital and we could not make any mistake. It was detrimental to our offensive game but we had a sound defensive game today.”

Wenger was obviously in a good mood after the grinding result, and he was asked if he could remember Arsenal ever scoring a quicker goal than Walcott’s, and he quipped: “No. I can’t remember. Unfortunately I waited for the second goal but it never came!”

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait so long for the second goal in our next game against Wigan. Why can’t Arsenal win a game convincingly for a change instead of making us suffer every week!