Walcott struck after 20 seconds, latching on to
Mikel Arteta's deft pass and firing past Rob Green.
Arsenal dominated the early stages and went close
to doubling their lead when Green clawed a low Walcott snap-shot on to his
post.
QPR improved after the break but the closest they
came to a reply was when Wojciech Szczesny denied Loic Remy.
Walcott's goal provided Arsene Wenger's side with
an ideal start and was also the perfect riposte to Tottenham's win over
Southampton earlier on Saturday. That had seen the Gunners temporarily drop to
fifth place, a point behind Spurs and Chelsea who both have games in hand.
Theo Walcott's strike after 20 seconds beats
Robin van Persie's deflected goal after 32 seconds for Manchester United
against West Ham as the fastest Premier League goal of the season. Van Persie
scored
what proved to be the winner against the Hammers at Old Trafford on 28
November.
Ledley King holds the record for the fastest goal
in Premier League history (since 1992). He netted after 10 seconds in
Tottenham's 3-3 draw at Bradford City on 9 December 2000.
Whether Arsenal, who have been ever-presents in
the Champions League for the past 15 seasons, finish in the top four this time
remains to be seen but this victory, their sixth in their last eight games, at
least gives them hope going into their last two games of the season.
It was by no means as straightforward a win as
seemed likely when Walcott put them ahead, however.
Arsenal encountered little resistance as they
advanced straight from kick-off and, following Armand Traore's poor header,
Arteta got on the end of Tomas Rosicky's cross and slipped in Walcott to find a
clinical finish.
Bottom side QPR initially offered little response
and the Gunners continued to look dangerous whenever they ventured forward.
Walcott, who has now hit the 20-goal mark for the
first time in a single season, went close to making it 2-0 before the half-hour
mark when Green turned his low shot on to the post.
But the home side, whose relegation was confirmed
last weekend, belatedly began to offer some resistance.
Andros Townsend was their biggest threat,
repeatedly running at the Gunners defence and setting up shooting chances for
Ji Sung Park and Bobby Zamora, both of which were wasted.
Arsenal remained on the back foot at the start of
the second half. Townsend, on loan at Rangers from Arsenal's rivals Spurs,
remained dangerous and his swerving shot forced a good save from Szczesny.
The Gunners found themselves in a scrap but
responded with a spell where they dominated possession. They could not get
behind QPR's defence, however, and it was the hosts who created the best late
chances.
Remy also tested Szczesny after cutting in from
the left and he repeated the trick with 10 minutes to go, this time with a
curling shot that forced the Arsenal keeper into his best stop of the evening.
