Arsene Wenger shook his head and fumed quietly as he watched Olivier Giroud disappear down the tunnel having been sent off for butting Nedum Onuoha. For once, his look said more than his words.
This was Wenger's 600th win as Arsenal manager and his 400th in the Barclays Premier League and, having toiled through a seemingly never-ending injury crisis, he could have done without this flash of idiocy from his senior centre forward.
Giroud is fortunate his team-mates were able to escape with three points, although it was a tense and anxious finale against a team without a point away from home all season.
Alexis Sanchez had opened the scoring in the first half and created the second for Tomas Rosicky, soon after Arsenal had been reduced to 10 men, but Charlie Austin pulled one back from the spot and mild panic rippled around the Emirates Stadium as the home team hung on.
Mathieu Flamini scrambled one effort away from under his own bar and Harry Redknapp was certain his team deserved another penalty when Kieran Gibbs hauled down Bobby Zamora as he tried to connect with a cross.
'It was a blatant penalty,' said Redknapp. 'He got dragged down for sure. Bobby couldn't believe he didn't get it. Maybe it's because he's given two already.'
Arsenal survived and overall deserved the win which keeps them within two points of the top four, but they may live to regret Giroud's flash of temper.
The France striker is only just back after three months out with a broken ankle and will now miss the games at West Ham on Sunday at Southampton on New Year's Day and at home to Hull in the FA Cup.
It was a deserved red card,' said Wenger. 'He didn't kill him, but he touched him and should not have done it. He should have been in control. Giroud has apologised. He knows he made a mistake and I know him well enough to think that he will not do it again.
'Maybe his injury he had played a part on his mind and he was scared to be injured again. It's unusual for him. Honestly, he's usually a guy who is in control of his reactions and quite calm. In my job, you never need that but you have to deal with the mistakes of people.'
Giroud was angry because he thought Onuoha had nudged him from behind as he raced head-to-head for the ball with goalkeeper Rob Green. He spun to the ground, jumped up, confronted the QPR defender, shouted and pushed his head into his face.
Onuoha fell backwards to the ground. It was not the most ferocious assault but he did it, and right in front of referee Martin Atkinson, who pulled out his red card without hesitation. 'You can't do that,' said Redknapp. 'If he's nutted him, he gets sent off, it's a silly thing to do really.'
The dismissal changed the dynamic of the game, although not immediately.
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