Their was a sense of relaxation around Loftus Road before this Carling Cup game. We knew we had nothing to lose and that on our day we could provide a bit of an upset and if we didn't then what the hell because Man City are entitled to beat us.

Upon hearing the teams I have to admit to being a little worried. Man City brought a full strength side with such names as Seaman, Sinclair, Anelka, Fowler and Wright-Phillips in the starting line up. We made one change to Saturdays team with Richard Pacquette replacing the cup-tied Tony Thorpe up front.

The atmosphere was red hot though as the teams came out with QPR fans doing all they could to make it a difficult night for Man City. I was a little surprised to see so many empty seats in the lower tier of the away end but it's a long way to come for a game they must have been expecting to win.

Rangers lost the toss and attacked the Loft in the first half which was a shame but it gave us a chance to welcome old boy David Seaman. As ever Seaman was greeted with boos and Judas chants and once again to his credit he laughed it off and shared some banter with the home fans. Trevor Sinclair got a big cheer when his name was announced but sadly he failed to acknowledge his old clubs supporters.

Rangers started brightly trying to unsettle their opponents with tough tackles and some nice passing movements. Gallen and Ainsworth were linking well down the right and man City looked a little uneasy at the back.

It was City who had the first chance though as Carlisle lost concentration and headed straight to Anelka who ran through. Thankfully though Anelka was in one of his sulky moods and wasted the chance when he should have scored.

Back up the other end we continued to push hard and were more than a match for Man City. We passed the ball better than we have for weeks and Gallen was having an excellent game. Chances were not coming though and despite a few corners we never really tested Seaman.

Gallen did get round the back once with a good turn and run to beat Distin but his cut back was cleared as Pacquette and Ainsworth were too slow to get on the end of it.

After 20 minutes we were looking good but then disaster struck and the first moment of controversy.

McLeod cleared the ball right in front of the linesmen and the attacker on the floor seemed to catch McLeod with a late tackle. It was a clear foul but the linesmen instead of looking at the game in front of him chose to look away and watch Pacquette loose possession.

McLeod got up and tried to walk it off and he got to his feet Wright Phillips ran clear with the defence playing him offside. McLeod was playing him on though despite walking away to receive treatment and Phillips took advantage with a brilliant shot to beat Chris Day.

The QPR fans went mad calling for offside or a foul on McLeod but nothing was given and the goal stood. TV evidence shows it was a foul and Premiership officials really should be able to spot these kind of incidents.

The goal then led to a nasty incident involving some QPR fans and Ian Wright in the South Africa Road stand. More on that in the What the Papers say section of this web site but from my seat in the upper Loft I saw absolutely nothing of the incident until I watched the highlights on TV a few hours later.

Back to the game and we lost our way a bit for a few minutes as City pressed to kill the game off. A slip by Edghill gave Sinclair a chance to shoot and Day parried it leaving an easy chance for Fowler but he scuffed it shooting wide. Fowler looked a shadow of the player he used to be and on this evidence I can't see him keeping his place for long in the Premiership.

Anelka then had a shot go wide as we looked dodgy but we bounced back and showed some great spirit and ability to pass the bal in midfield and try and get balls wide for Gallen and Ainsworth to exploit.

The QPR fans were keeping themselves amused with plenty of light-hearted stick for David Seaman. A chant of Lets all do the Seaman was probably the bets of the lot. I remember doing this at Highbury years ago after the Nayim goal but as we all did the Seaman flapping our hands in the air he turned to us wagged his finger and did his version of the Seaman which was miming lifting trophies over his head. Full credit to Seaman as that was very funny.

Just before half time we had our first real chances. Pacquette got behind Distin but couldn't get any power on his shot and Seaman did well to block it with one hand. Then Martin Rowlands cut inside and showed great confidence to try and dipping shot which went just over the bar.

As the half time whistle went the team were clapped off and David Seaman gave us a little clap and for all the abuse we give him it was good to see him again at QPR and I hope he looks back on his time at Loftus Road with some affection.

The second half was always going to be difficult as we attacked towards the Man City fans but we continued to do well without creating many clear cut chances. City were never really on top of us and some excellent crosses by Edghill were crying out for someone to attack them but we didn't have the height up front to cause them problems.

Bircham had a deflected shot go wide whilst Ainsworth tried his luck from 25 yards out but it went just over the bar. We then got a free kick right on the edge of the box and it all got a bit exciting.

We know Seaman is shit at free kicks and he still can't line a wall up as he left a big gap at the near post. We didn't spot it though and Rowlands curled it high and over and in truth that was our last chance gone.

Holloway made a change bringing on Sabin for Pacquette but not much changed and City eventually killed the game off. It was Wright-Phillips again who did the damage running in from the wing and firing into the bottom corner for number two. Game set and match to Man City and we seemed to lose heart for a few minutes. A few heads dropped and before we knew what was happening it was 3-0.

The midfield were cut apart with a slick passing move and Jon Macken looked offside as he was slipped through but he finished it very clinically giving Day no chance. Not sure if he was offside or not but by this stage it didn't really matter as the game was over.

Things almost got worse as Shaun Wright Phillips once again found space out wide and thundered a cracking shot against the bar but 4-0 would have been a very unfair scoreline on Rangers.

We got ourselves together again for the final few minutes and Ainsworth went close to a consolation goal after getting behind the defence but Seaman came out to save well from Ainsworth and the chance was gone.

The team was given a standing ovation off the pitch by the fans and they deserved it as well. 3-0 was not really a fair reflection on the play although Man City did deserve the win for some excellent finishing and good luck to them in the next round. Have to say it would be nice to se Kevin Keegan win something as he's always come across as a top bloke.

Positives from the night were the support given to the team which was excellent and the performances of Gallen, Forbes and Carlisle who must take great confidence from matching a very good Premiership side.

The downside of course was the Ian Wright incident and the cup throwing at Tarrant which was totally unnecessary and will probably cost QPR £25,000. If whoever reading this was responsible for that then I hope you are proud of yourself and perhaps you could offer to pay the fine now hanging over QPR's head due to your stupidity.

Man of the Match: Terrell Forbes

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Made two good saves from Anelka and Sinclair but had no chance with the goals. 7/10

23. Richard Edghill: Worked hard and looked a decent player. His passing and tackling was much improved and he had Trevor Sinclair in his pocket. 8/10

3. Gino Padula: Up against a real quality player in Wright-Phillips but did well and passed the ball excellently showing some great skill. 8/10

5. Clarke Carlisle: A nervous start but after one mistake he dealt brilliantly with Anelka and can be proud of his performance, 8/10

2. Terrell Forbes: He's improving into a very good central defender. His distribution is excellent now and he had Robbie Fowler in his pocket all night. 9/10

22. Kevin McLeod: Worked hard and got a bit of stick from the crowd. Not at his best but up against a Premiership side he was never going to set the world alight. 7/10

8. Marc Bircham: You know what you get from Bircham and he was once again all over the place trying to win the ball and his passing was pretty good too. Was booked for a pretty rash tackle though in the second half. 8/10

14. Martin Rowlands: Got better as he grew with confidence and was unlucky with one shot in the first half which went just over the bar. 8/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: Ran his heart out and interchanged positions with Gallen several times to add more aerial threat in the middle. Unlucky not to score near the end. 8/10

15. Richard Pacquette: Looked a bit nervous and struggled but played some nice passes and almost grabbed a goal in the first half. 7/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Another excellent performance as he ran them ragged in the first half but just couldn't proivde the final pass or shot to reward his performance. 8/10

Subs

12. Eric Sabin. Ran around a lot but never looked a threat. 6/10