QPR extended their lead at the top of the Championship this afternoon with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium.
Two goals from the in-form Jamie Mackie were enough to give QPR their sixth win in seven games, and pile more pressure on the struggling Foxes.
Leicester will have felt aggrieved to have not been awarded a second half penalty after substitute Steve Howard was involved in a clash which left him with blood pouring from his nose, which might have changed the game with the score still just 1-0.
However, another loss meant that Paulo Sousa’s men now find themselves in the bottom three again after another disappointing result.
Jamie Mackie opened the scoring for the away side in the twelfth minute when Adel Taarabt picked out the former Plymouth striker with a precise ball into the penalty area, who headed past goalkeeper Carl Ikeme to net his seventh goal in as many league games and continue his blistering start to the season.
The goal left Leicester falling behind in yet another game, leaving them with a mountain to climb against Neil Warnock’s men, who are still yet to be beaten in the league this season.
Chances were few and far between for Leicester in the first half, although Martyn Waghorn came closest with a powerful header from a quick Richie Wellens free kick, and shortly after with a near post shot which was saved at point blank range by goalkeeper Paddy Kenny.
The turning point in the match came in the second half when substitute Steve Howard – the only change to Leicester’s starting eleven from Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City - appeared to receive an elbow to the face in the penalty area following an aerial clash with the QPR defence.
However, the official quickly waved away any protests from the home side, despite the incident requiring the bloodied Howard to leave the pitch for treatment and a change of shirt.
As the intensity of the match began to build, Leicester came close to equalising when Andy King’s fine strike from twenty yards was well-matched by Paddy Kenny who parried the ball away at full stretch.
But QPR put the game to bed with a goal which came against the run of play, as Jamie Mackie found himself one on one against defender Michael Morrison, before firing past Ikeme into the bottom corner for his second goal of the game, and eighth of the season.
Although seven minutes of injury time were added on at the end of the match, Leicester failed to turn possession into any further goal scoring opportunities, allowing QPR to see the game out and extend their lead at the top of the table to five points, and condemning Leicester to their fourth defeat in seven in the Championship.
Man of the Match – Jamie Mackie
The Guardian match report said that Leicester dominated possession? Is that correct?
ReplyDeleteChristoph, this is true to some extent. We dominated the match in terms of creating goal scoring opportunities, but as has been the story of the season to date, there simply has been no end product. We could have drawn, or even won, but QPR frustrated us.
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