QPR 2-1 Bristol City
QPR made it two wins in a week, with a much deserved victory over play off chasing Bristol City at a very sunny afternoon at Loftus Road.
Unfortunately, the very welcome sunny spring weather, also brought the sight of PK in shorts yesterday who wasted no time in trying to get some early colour onto the legs. But things in general were a lot more upbeat before kick off yesterday following the excellent midweek win over Swansea. At the end of that game, there was more a sense of relief around the Stadium than anything else. But at the final whistle yesterday, there was pure, jubilation!
As mentioned, Rangers thoroughly deserved this win despite another pedantic referee. But in a relatively quiet first half, the R's should have taken the lead through Samuel Di Carmine. Adel Taarbat found the Italian striker in space near the edge of the penalty area, but Di Carmine's weak shot was easily pushed away by Basso. City also had two decent chances - McIndoe's cross was blasted over by an unmarked Ivan Sproule. Then Nicky Maynard fired over from ten yards following a rare mix-up in the R's defence.
In the second half, Jordi Lopez saw a free kick easily saved by Basso, but got another bite at the cherry minutes later and on 65 minutes, following a foul on Di Carmine, the Spanish midfielder put Rangers ahead with a superb 25-yard effort that curled into the top corner.
Rangers looked comfortable enough until the 77th minute when McIndoe superbly volleyed home Sproule's cross to the far post. But 5 minutes later, great work from Cook set Delaney free on the left, who got free of his marker and crossed for Adel Taarabt to grab his first goal in English football, which sent the home crowd into raptures. Helguson and Routledge both had decent chances to extend the lead, but after four minutes of stoppage time, the whistle blew on what has been an excellent week for QPR.
QPR: Cerny, Delaney, Leigertwood, Gorkss, Ramage, Connolly (Helguson 61), Lòpez, Alberti (Routledge 46), Di Carmine (Cook 73), Ephraim, Taarabt. Subs: Mahon, Vine.
Lofty's Man of the Match - Jordi Lòpez
For the second game running, the man of the match was a tough one to call with so many good performances throughout the team. Defensively, we were solid enough, despite a change around when Leigertwood stepped in for the injured Connolly in the second half. The rejuvinated Peter Ramage also continued his fine recent form. Ephraim and Taarabt were again excellent in midfield, but for me, the goal from Lòpez was the clincher and his free kick as good as anything seen elsewhere.
Realistically although not impossible, the play off's may be beyond us now, but it is refreshing to see that the R's are not going to let the season just fizzle out. The recent poor run of form unfortunately coincided with the farcical season ticket announcement and has led to an extremely downbeat mood in and around Loftus Road of late. The last two games/results have certainly brought a few smiles back to the faces of QPR fans.
Never, say Never...
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