Gunners not good enough - Wenger (From Worcester News)

Gunners not good enough - Wenger

9:44am Sunday 1st April 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger offered no excuses for his side's poor performance as their seven-match winning run came to an abrupt end at struggling QPR.

Wenger answered questions on the possibility of finishing second in the Barclays Premier League on Friday after the Gunners' excellent recent form, but they were brought crashing back to earth by a stronger and hungrier home side.

"Our performance was not good enough to win this kind of game," Wenger said. "QPR had a little bit of extra special commitment."

Former Tottenham midfielder Adel Taarabt opened the scoring for QPR in the first half before Samba Diakite wrapped up a 2-1 for the west Londoners following Theo Walcott's equaliser.

Rangers looked nothing like the team that crumbled against Sunderland last weekend and Arsenal were a shadow of the team that had gone unbeaten since February 18.

"Overall we can only congratulate QPR for their attitude and be unhappy with our own performance," said Wenger. "What we produced on the day was not good enough.

"Subconsciously something was missing. In the Premier League if you miss something on the commitment front you are beaten. That is what happened."

Asked if complacency had been a factor, Wenger added: "It is difficult to single out one reason, but why not?

"We played against a team who play for survival. We prepared properly but we missed something and you could see that."

Thomas Vermaelen was largely responsible for conceding both goals. Taarabt easily turned the Belgian before firing home after 22 minutes and he was beaten again in the second period by Jamie Mackie, who squared for Diakite to slam home the winner from 12 yards.