Two for Washington as QPR beat Reading
QPR 2 Reading 0
Conor Washington scored both goals for QPR as they beat 10-man Reading at Loftus Road.
Washington headed in from close range on 22 minutes and slotted home a penalty 14 minutes into the second half after Tiago Iloro had been red-carded for fouling Pawel Wszolek in the box.
It was a miserable afternoon for last season’s beaten Championship play-off finalists, whose new signing Jon Dadi Bodvarsson went off injured.
Rangers went ahead when Luke Freeman’s skill on the right dug the ball out of a tight spot and Wszolek crossed for Washington to apply the finish.
Boss Ian Holloway paired Jamie Mackie and Washington up front and they had combined in the opening few minutes, exchanging passes before Washington saw a shot saved by keeper Vito Mannone.
After going ahead, QPR almost doubled their lead when Freeman shot narrowly wide following nice link-up play involving Mackie and Wszolek.
And Massimo Luongo went even closer when he fired against the far post from near the left-hand edge of the Reading penalty area.
Washington missed a great chance five minutes before the interval, shooting high and wide after Liam Kelly’s awful back-pass left the striker with just Mannone to beat.
Rangers continued to press early in the second half and Freeman sent another effort wide after being set up by Mackie.
The home side deserved their win but they needed Alex Smithies to produce a brilliant save to maintain their lead following an error by Nedum Onuoha shortly before the second goal.
After the Rangers captain’s lapse in concentration let in substitute Modou Barrow, the ball broke to Bodvarsson, who was denied by keeper Smithies at point-blank range.
It proved to be a pivotal moment in the match because a couple of minutes later Reading were two behind, down to 10 men and without Bodvarsson, who had been their main threat.
With Bodvarsson lying injured near the halfway line, play was allowed to continue and Mackie teed up Wszolek, who was taken down by Iloro near the edge of the six-yard box.
Iloro was sent off for a professional foul and, after a delay as Bodvarsson received treatment and was then helped off the pitch, Washington steered his penalty into the corner of the net.
Washington picked up an injury of his own but by the time he went off late on after appearing to hurt his back, the game was as good as won for Rangers.
QPR: Smithies, Perch, Onuoha, Lynch, Wszolek, Scowen, Luongo, Freeman, Bidwell (Robinson 87), Mackie (Ngbakoto 82), Washington (Sylla 80).
Subs not used: Ingram, Furlong, Borysiuk, Smith.
06/08/2017 @ 4:49 pm
All well and good saying “play was allowed to continue”, but there wasn’t a foul, the player had previously thrown himself to the floor on numerous occasions, and, most pertinently of all, Reading had the ball and chose to play on.