| Coca Cola Championship | |
| Saturday December 6th | |
|
Queens
Park Rangers 1
|
Wolves 0 |
| M.Rowlands | |
Rangers first Saturday tea time match that I can
remember saw runaway leaders Wolves visit Loftus Road in what turned
out6 to be a fantastic performance by Paulo Sousa's side. Before the game we tried out the new look Queen Adelaide pub which is now gone gastro with three bored chefs in a kitchen replacing the pool table and £3.50 a pint prices seeing the death of another good pre match pub for QPR fans. With the late kick off it all felt a bit strange and flat on the way to the ground but if we do ever get to the premiership that's something we may have to get used to. Sousa made some changes to the side for the visit of Wolves and it was a very attack minded team he put out. The back four remained the same again but Rowlands replaced the suspended Leigterwood whilst Parejo was dropped completely in favour of Heider Helguson who started just behind the front two of Blackstock and Agyemang. Rumours are that Lee Cook will complete an £850,000 transfer to QPR in January and he was back from injury among the subs bench for the first time under Sousa. Rangers went after the league leaders from the start and it was almost a dream start when the impressive Ephraim got down the right and crossed for Helguson but after a lovely first touch he smashed his shot over the bar with a poor finish. Rangers were hungry and looking to fight for every ball whilst the midfield diamond worked really well with Rowlands and Ephraim causing plenty of problems drifting both inside and outside. A through ball by Ephraim was missed by Mancienne and Agyemang found himself clean through but never looked confident and saw his shot well saved by Hennessey. From the corner Gorkss headed wide and Rangers kept the pressure going as the visitors began to look nervous at the back and unable to cope with the three Rangers forwards. After a good start we almost fell behind as Edwards curled a shot from the deg of the box just past the post. I was right behind it and it looked in until the last moment and Cerny could just stand and watch it. That gave Wolves confidence and we began to push forward and Cerny struggled with a cross as Stearman hooked it over his head but also over the bar. Rangers had a great chance to take the lead when Rowlands put Blackstock clean through but he probably had too much time to think about it and sliced his shot over the bar. Blackstock seems far better when he plays on instinct and just doesn't have to think about things and that was the case in this game with his two chances both wasted. In his defence he was carrying a knock and limped
off after 20 minutes to be replaced by Lee Cook with Helguson going
up front and Cook playing behind the front two. It was an unfamiliar
role for Cook and one he struggled with to be honest. Wolves again came close to taking the lead after a poor tackle by Mahon on Kightly right on the edge of the box. Mahon lined the wall up and it looked dangerous as the ball was touched to Jones who curled a brilliant shot over the wall to the far post and with Cerny beaten it flew millimetres past the post. So close for Wolves but Rangers were still looking the better side and continued to dominate possession and create the better chances. Agyemang and Helguson were closing down the Wolves
defence at every opportunity and they were struggling to cope with
us. Agyemang was on fire and knocked it past him man and burst past
two defenders from out wide into the box before laying it back to
Cook whose low shot was well saved by the keeper. Agyemang and Helguson both had efforts on goal that
went wide as Rangers pushed forward with some fast and direct football
that Wolves were struggling to deal wit6h. At half time Rangers
had deserved to be in front but it was still level with plenty to
do if we were going to win the game. The game continued in the same vain after the break
with Rangers getting the ball forward to Helguson and feeding off
his knock downs. Helguson had a good chance to give us the lead
when he raced onto a long ball and his flicked shot was blocked
by the keeper's feet and I don't think he knew much about it. Wolves best chances were coming from free kicks as
the Rangers defence were playing superbly. Stewart and Gorkss were
keeping the excellent Ebanks-Blake and Iwelumo very quiet whilst
Delaney was having his best game for some time at left back. From a free kick on the edge of the box Jones again
went close curling it over the wall and into the bottom corner,
it looked a goal as soon as it left his foot before Cerny got across
and produced a magnificent save to palm it wide for a corner. Cerny
has been fantastic in the last two months and when called upon in
this game he was unbeatable. The game was quite open now and pretty good to watch.
Wolves sent on Matt Jarvis to add more width and he helped change
the game causing Ramage problems beating him and crossing for Ebank's-Blake
to stick out a hand and punch it towards goal. Cerny made another
very good save but quite how the ref missed the handball is a mystery. Before we had a chance to moan about the Maradona
moment we produced a goal out of nothing. A long clearance by Cerny
was headed down to Agyemang, Rowlands pushed him off the ball and
burst forward before smashing a brilliant shot over the keeper and
into the back of the net. It was a screamer from Rowlands and he
was mobbed by his teammates in front of an impressed Republic of
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni. Rangers pushed for a second goal with Helguson heading
wide and the Wolves back four looked in a mess. Lee Cook shot wide
after a nice run but then rangers appeared to say that's it we'll
settle for this and that made for a very nervous last twenty minutes
of defence v attack. I think this may have been due to some of the
players being shattered with Agyemang looking dead on his feet for
the last twenty minutes so we were no longer chasing them down and
instead sat back and looked to hold on. It was a horrible game to watch for QPR fans now
as Wolves got wide and put in crosses which the Rangers defence
were desperately defending against and scrambling the ball away;
Ramage and Delaney got in some vital blocks and when they did get
an effort on target like the screamer from Vokes Cerny was equal
to it producing another great save not only keeping the shot out
but catching it as well. Sousa made a change bringing on Tomassi for Helguson
which saw Cook go up front and Agyemang out wide. It was a strange
move and never really worked as both Cook and Agyemang looked confused
as to what they should be doing. The pressure continued as Jarvis began to tear Ramage apart but his balls into the box were being really well defended by the central defenders and Wolves were struggling to find a way through. Three minutes of injury time were added and it was now looking like Rangers would hang on to a much needed win. Lee Cook was taken off for Di Carmine, he looked disappointed but it was a wise thing to do with Di Carmine more suited to playing up front. The Italian almost scored with a quick breakaway and he took the ball away from a struggling Mancienne and fired a long range shot just wide of the post. Wolves couldn't manage another effort on goal and
the final whistle was greeted with a huge roar and Patrick Agyemang
dancing to pig bag in front of a smiling Mancienne. This was a very good performance by Rangers, our best since beating Birmingham by the same score line. We now know this QPR side can beat the best in this division and despite a crazy few months off the pitch we still remain joint 6th at the moment which is not a bad position to be in with the transfer window opening soon. I though the back four and keeper were once again very good. Cerny continues to produce some world class saves whilst Kaspar Gorkss has done more than enough in the last few games to keep his place ahead of Fitz Hall. Hogan Ephraim continues to look the part and was again very good on the right. Mahon protected the back four really well whilst Rowlands had his best game for some time in midfield. Helguson had a very good home debut and looks like a good signing whilst Agyemang was my man of the match for an all action display that really troubled a quality defender in Mancienne. Rangers now face a bust few weeks as the Christmas period hits but Sousa seems to have got us organised and playing well again. An away goal would be nice now with trips to Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth this week now very important games as we look to push into the playoffs. Man of the Match: Patrick Agyemang Players Ratings: Cerny 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 8, Gorkks 8, Delaney 7, Mahon 7, Ephraim 7, Rowlands 8, Helgusson 8, Blackstock 6 (Cook 6) (Di Carmine 6), Agyemang 8 |
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