Friday, 26th December, 2014
Mathieu Flamini has hailed Arsenal's character after they beat QPR 2-1 with ten men at the Emirates Stadium today.
Arsenal took the lead in the 37th minute when Alexis Sanchez found the back of the net, making up for an earlier missed penalty, continuing his fine goalscoring form in a Gunners shirt.
It was smooth sailing for the Gunners until Olivier Giroud was sent off in the 53rd minute, the Frenchman appearing to headbutt QPR defender Nedum Onuoha after looking to be pushed.
Arsenal did not let going down to ten men affect them however and extended their lead through Tomas Rosicky in the 65th minute.
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QPR were offered some hope though after Mathieu Debuchy gave away a penalty, Charlie Austin converting from the spot in the 78th minute.
It was nothing more than a consolation however and Flamini was quick to salute how Arsenal coped with ten men, grinding out the result against the R's.
"There was some great character today", Flamini explained to BT Sport.
"We had to scrap it out a bit towards the end, so it's very pleasing to have come through a bit of a challenge there to get all three points", the midfielder added.
And the Frenchman's words were echoed by fellow goalscorer Rosicky, who said: "We dug deep and we won the game and it's a very important stage of the season, so we're pleased to have won."
Arsenal are now just one point behind fourth-placed West Ham in the Premier League.
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