QPR 1-2 Swansea City: Swans Head Down M4 With The Points in Cook's Last Game

Match Details

• Competition: Sky Bet Championship
• Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
• Venue: Matrade Loftus Road Stadium, London W12
• Final Score: Queens Park Rangers 1 - 2 Swansea City
• Half Time: Queens Park Rangers 0 - 1 Swansea City (2 minutes added time)
• Attendance: 13,835
• Referee: John Busby (4th Official: Paul Howard)

Match Stats & Key Metrics

	Queens Park Rangers	Swansea City
Score	1	2
Half Time	0	1
Goalscorers	Norrington-Davies 90'	Ronald 2', Vipotnik 80' (pen)
Formation	4-4-2	4-2-3-1
Yellow Cards	Morgan 23', Adamson 55', Norrington-Davies 60'	Ronald 90+3'
Red Cards	-	-
Substitutions	Smyth for Poku 29' (inj), Chair for Kolli 60', Smith T for Cook 61', Madsen for Hayden 61', Kone for Burrell 62'	Eom for Franco 66', Vipotnik for Idah 66', Yalcouye for Walta 67', Ward for Parker 73', Cullen for Widell 76'
Attendance	13,835
Referee	John Busby

Lineups

Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2): Walsh - Adamson, Edwards, Cook (c) (61' Smith T), Norrington-Davies - Poku (29' Smyth), Hayden (61' Madsen), Morgan, Vale - Kolli (60' Chair), Burrell (62' Kone). Subs unused: Hamer (GK), Mbengue, Esquerdinha, Varane.

Swansea City (4-2-3-1): Vigouroux - Parker (73' Ward), Cabango (c), Burgess, Tymon - Fulton, Walta (67' Yalcouye) - Ronald, Franco (66' Eom), Widell (76' Cullen) - Idah (66' Vipotnik). Subs unused: Fisher (GK), Stamenic, Gustavo Nunes, Woodward.

The Story of the Match

STEVE COOK the central defender played the last of his 100 matches for Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night. He was named skipper for his final appearance and left the field to a standing ovation from the QPR fans in the 61st minute despite his involvement in the mix-up for the opening goal. He has been offered a coaching role in W12 next season but may still decide to join a new club to remain as a player.

QPR's evening was torrid and uneventful in front of goal with another defeat following Saturday's loss away at Millwall, as the R's lost 1-2 to the Welsh side who moved above them in the league table.

The goals came first from Ronald with a right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area into the corner of the net past Joe Walsh in the 2nd minute. The second came from substitute Zan Vipotnik with a penalty converted in the 80th minute after Tylon Smith had fouled Eom Ji-Sung. QPR pulled one back in the 90th minute when Paul Smyth's shot struck the crossbar from the edge of the Swansea penalty area and Rhys Norrington-Davies followed up to head in and make it 1-2. A Welshman scoring for QPR was a rare occurrence - the last one was Tyler Roberts.

Queens Park Rangers came into the match off the back of three wins against Watford (home) 2-1, Portsmouth (home) 6-1 and Leicester City (away) 3-1, and three draws against Preston North End (away) 0-0, Bristol City (home) 0-0 and Millwall (away) 1-1 last time out.

Swansea City came into the match off the back of one win against Leicester City (away) 1-0, two draws against Middlesbrough (home) 2-2 and Sheffield United (away) 3-3, and three losses against Coventry City (home) 0-3, Wrexham (away) 0-2 and Southampton (home) 0-1 last time out.

QPR manager Julien Stephan started with a 4-4-2 formation with Joe Walsh in goal, then a back four of Kealey Adamson, Ronnie Edwards, Steve Cook the captain and Rhys Norrington-Davies, then a four-man midfield of Kwame Poku, Isaac Hayden, Kieran Morgan and Harvey Vale, with Rumarn Burrell and Rayan Kolli up front.

Swansea City manager Vitor Matos started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lawrence Vigouroux in goal, then a back four of Sam Parker, captain Ben Cabango, Cameron Burgess and Josh Tymon, then two holding midfielders in Jay Fulton and Leo Walta, then three midfielders in Ronald, Gonçalo Franco and Melker Widell, with lone striker Adam Idah up front.

Swansea City kicked off the first half in a changed strip of purple and green. The visitors started well and opened the scoring through Ronald with a right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area into the corner of the net past Joe Walsh in the second minute. Kieran Morgan was yellow carded in the 23rd minute.

QPR a goal down came back slowly with Kwame Poku and Harvey Vale looking lively on the flanks. Isaac Hayden saw a right-footed shot saved by Lawrence Vigouroux in the 24th minute to keep the Swans in the lead. QPR replaced the injured Kwame Poku with Paul Smyth in the 29th minute. Swansea could have been further ahead at the break as QPR were lacking flair and positivity with Rayan Kolli and Rumarn Burrell not getting much of a look in.

Swansea City led 1-0 at the interval. QPR needed a better second half. Neither side made any half-time substitutions. Gonçalo Franco saw a right-footed shot from 15 yards tipped away by Walsh at full stretch for a corner in the 48th minute. Swansea went close again in the 51st minute through a Leo Walta shot from the edge of the penalty area but Walsh was in top form.

In the 52nd minute Harvey Vale nearly equalised but his free kick from 22 yards went just over the crossbar. Adam Idah's left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 57th minute was well saved by Walsh.

QPR manager Julien Stephan made four substitutions replacing Rayan Kolli with Ilias Chair, Steve Cook with Tylon Smith, Isaac Hayden with Nicolas Madsen and Rumarn Burrell with Richard Kone in the 60th, 61st and 62nd minutes.

Swansea City made three substitutions replacing Gonçalo Franco with Eom Ji-Sung, Adam Idah with Zan Vipotnik and Leo Walta with Malick Yalcouye in the 66th and 67th minutes, then a fourth with Sam Parker replaced by Joel Ward in the 73rd minute. Josh Tymon saw a left-footed shot saved by Walsh in the 74th minute. Swansea's final substitution saw Melker Widell replaced by Liam Cullen in the 76th minute.

Richard Kone found Paul Smyth in the penalty area in the 78th minute but his shot was saved by Vigouroux. Swansea then came forward on a fast counter-attack and Tylon Smith fouled Eom Ji-Sung, with referee John Busby pointing straight to the spot. Substitute Zan Vipotnik fired home a right-footed penalty to make it 0-2 in the 80th minute.

In the 90th minute QPR pulled a goal back after Smyth's shot struck the crossbar and Norrington-Davies headed in the rebound to make it 1-2. Ronald was cautioned in the 90th plus 3rd minute but despite late QPR pressure Swansea City held on to win.

Timeline of Key Events

• 2' Ronald right-footed shot into the corner past Walsh (0-1)
• 23' Morgan yellow carded (QPR)
• 24' Hayden shot saved by Vigouroux (QPR)
• 29' Smyth replaces injured Poku (QPR)
• 48' Franco shot tipped away by Walsh for a corner (Swansea)
• 51' Walta shot from edge of area saved by Walsh (Swansea)
• 52' Vale free kick from 22 yards goes just over (QPR)
• 55' Adamson yellow carded (QPR)
• 57' Idah left-footed shot saved by Walsh (Swansea)
• Half Time QPR 0 Swansea City 1 (2 minutes added time)
• 60' Chair replaces Kolli (QPR)
• 60' Norrington-Davies yellow carded (QPR)
• 61' Smith T replaces Cook - standing ovation (QPR)
• 61' Madsen replaces Hayden (QPR)
• 62' Kone replaces Burrell (QPR)
• 66' Eom replaces Franco; Vipotnik replaces Idah (Swansea)
• 67' Yalcouye replaces Walta (Swansea)
• 73' Ward replaces Parker (Swansea)
• 74' Tymon left-footed shot saved by Walsh (Swansea)
• 76' Cullen replaces Widell (Swansea)
• 78' Smyth shot in penalty area saved by Vigouroux (QPR)
• 80' Vipotnik penalty - Smith T foul on Eom (0-2)
• 90' Smyth shot hits crossbar, Norrington-Davies heads in rebound (1-2)
• 90+3' Ronald yellow carded (Swansea)
• Full Time Queens Park Rangers 1 Swansea City 2 (5 minutes added time)

Author's Standout Players

• Joe Walsh (QPR) - Outstanding between the sticks on a difficult night, making saves from Vigouroux, Walta, Idah and Tymon to keep QPR in the contest; could do nothing about either goal
• Ronald (Swansea City) - Set the tone with a composed clinical finish in the second minute and was a constant threat throughout, deservedly earning the Man of the Match performance for the visitors
• Steve Cook (QPR) - A fitting send-off for a QPR stalwart; captained the side for his 100th and final appearance and left to a deserved standing ovation, embodying everything the club stands for
• Zan Vipotnik (Swansea City) - Came off the bench to score the decisive penalty and seal the points, showing composure and confidence as a substitute to put the game beyond QPR