FOOTBALLSkyBet Championship
QPR 2-1 Cardiff City: Match Report
Rumarn Burrell scores in each half to send Queens Park Rangers joint top of the SkyBet Championship, before Perry Ng's late reply sets up a nervous finish at Loftus Road.
In this report
Queens Park Rangers rose to joint top of the SkyBet Championship with Swansea City and Charlton Athletic, moving onto 10 points from 4 games after beating Cardiff City 2-1 at Loftus Road, with both goals coming from Rumarn Burrell.
QPR arrived in fourth place on 7 points, having won away at Portsmouth 3-1 and Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and drawn 0-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers, after a first round Carabao Cup exit against Millwall. Cardiff City sat 18th on 3 points, with a first round cup win over Swindon Town 3-2 offset by a second round defeat at home to Norwich City and three league draws, against Wrexham, Sheffield United and away at Derby County.
Julien Stephan made five changes, bringing in Tariq Lampty, Koki Saito, Glen Kamara, Harvey Vale and Alfie Lloyd for Jake Clarke-Salter, Ilias Chair, Paul Smyth, Dennis Cirkin and Richard Kone. Brian Barry-Murphy made one, Calum Scanlon replacing Krystian Bielik. Kamara made his home debut in the QPR midfield.
Timeline of key events
- 7'
Jimmy Dunne heads narrowly wide from a corner
- 10'
Pierce Charles saves well from Yousef Salech
- 23'
Charles turns an Alex Robertson effort behind
- 36'
1-0 Burrell. - forces the ball home at the near post from a short corner
- Half time:
Queens Park Rangers 1 Cardiff City 0
- 46'
Willock on for Ashford (Cardiff City)
- 47'
Tanner booked
- 53'
2-0 Burrell. - right-footed finish inside the area, assist by Edwards
- 67'
Nathan Trott saves from Tariq Lampty
- 71-72'
Varane, Clarke-Salter, Adamson and Cirkin on for QPR
- 74'
2-1 Ng. - left-footed finish, assist by Tanner
- 77'
Ng booked for handball
- 80'
Chair on for Lloyd (QPR); J. Colwill on for Moylan (Cardiff City)
- 88'
Robinson and Davies on for Cardiff City
- 90+'
Chair fires wide from eight yards
- Full time:
Queens Park Rangers 2 Cardiff City 1
It was a fast and open start. Ronnie Edwards, deployed in the back four alongside Jimmy Dunne, saw a left-footed effort deflected behind and Dunne then headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner. Yousef Salech drew a good save from Pierce Charles, the goalkeeper on a season-long loan from Manchester City, and Alfie Lloyd fired over at the other end. Cardiff pressed through Alex Robertson, Rubin Colwill and Cian Ashford without reward.
QPR broke the deadlock in the 36th minute. A short corner from Nicolas Madsen was worked to the near post and Burrell forced the ball home from close range after Cardiff failed to clear inside their own six-yard box. The hosts led 1-0 at the break, Harvey Vale twice shooting wide either side of the goal.
Cardiff introduced Chris Willock at half time and Ollie Tanner was booked in the 47th minute for a foul on Lampty. In the 53rd minute QPR doubled the lead, Edwards releasing Burrell for a crisp right-footed finish from inside the area and his second of the afternoon. Burrell went close to a hat-trick with a dribble and shot wide, and Lampty drew a save from Nathan Trott as Rangers chased a third.
Stephan made a triple change on 71 and 72 minutes, sending on Jonathan Varane, Clarke-Salter, Kealey Adamson and Cirkin. In the 74th minute Cardiff pulled one back, Perry Ng steering in a left-footed finish from Tanner's assist to make it 2-1. Ng was then booked for handball in the 77th minute.
Cardiff finished the stronger. Joel Colwill shot wide with his first touch after coming on, and Barry-Murphy threw on Callum Robinson and Isaak Davies in the 88th minute. Chair fired wide from eight yards in added time and QPR looked nervous as the visitors piled forward, but the hosts held on for the three points.
QPR host Middlesbrough next, while Cardiff City travel to Portsmouth.
Match statistics
| Metric | Queens Park Rangers | Cardiff City |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 2 | 1 |
| Yellow Cards | 0 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
Possession, shots, passing and fouls: official match data issued in the press box. Expected goals: third party provider, as published. Saves counted at the ground and verified against the team sheet.
Match details
- Competition
- SkyBet Championship
- Venue
- MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium, London
- Referee
- Tim Robinson - Assistant Referees: Sam Lewis, George Byrne - 4th Official: Richard Eley
- Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2)
- Charles - Mbengue (72, Adamson), Dunne (c), Edwards, Lampty (72, Clarke-Salter) - Saito, Kamara (72, Cirkin), Madsen (71, Varane), Vale - Lloyd (80, Chair), Burrell. Unused: Ward (G), Smyth, Kone, Obikwu
- Cardiff City (4-2-3-1)
- Trott - Ng, Scanlon, Osho, Bagan - A. Robertson (88, Robinson), Ashford (46, Willock) - Tanner (88, Davies), R. Colwill (c), Moylan (80, J. Colwill) - Salech. Unused: Tyrer (G), Bielik, Turnbull, Tankiewicz, Kpokio
Editorial judgement, not a statistic
William Powell's standout players
Rumarn Burrell (QPR) - Two well-taken goals and a constant threat leading the line
Ronnie Edwards (QPR) - Composed in a makeshift back four and the architect of the second goal
Koki Saito (QPR) - Tricky and direct down the right, created chances throughout
Perry Ng (Cardiff City) - Drove Cardiff forward after the break and took his goal well
Selected by William Powell at the ground.
William Powell
Senior Editor · FWA Life Member · Sports Journalist since 1987
William Powell is CUVA Sports' senior editor and lead correspondent, covering football and cricket at the highest level for nearly four decades. A Life Member of the Football Writers' Association, his writing combines deep tactical knowledge with the narrative flair of the best sports journalism.
