Brentford are celebrating another derby victory over QPR, having completed a league double over their neighbours by beating them 3-1 at Griffin Park on Saturday.
It was Rangers’ sixth consecutive defeat – their second six-game losing run since Ian Holloway took over as manager earlier this season – and they are still not safe from relegation with two matches of the campaign left.
A win at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday would finally remove any threat of the drop. Otherwise, Holloway’s side could travel to Norwich on the final day of the season with their Championship status in the balance.
Brentford had plenty of possession but Rangers went closest to scoring before Yoann Barbet gave the hosts a first-half lead. QPR failed to deal with Jota’s corner and Barbet was given time and space to control the ball before firing into the roof of the net.
It was another frustrating afternoon for Conor Washington, who has now not scored in his last 10 appearances for Rangers. The striker missed two good chances in the first half and was denied a second-half equaliser by Barbet’s goal-line clearance.
Jota was a thorn in QPR’s side even before his two goals, the first of which was a penalty after Joel Lynch upended Maxime Colin as he looked to retrieve the situation after losing control of the ball inside his own box. Sloppy from Lynch, whereas Jota was coolness personified.
Lynch atoned by pulling a goal back for Rangers with a header from Luke Freeman’s left-wing corner. It was a breakthrough the visitors deserved and gave them a realistic chance of completing a rousing comeback.
Instead, Jota struck again – with a truly marvelous goal. Again Lynch was caught out – and so too was Jake Bidwell, who endured a miserable day against his former club. Jota breezed past both players before applying the finish. Pure class.
Holloway’s predecessors know all about the walk past angry QPR fans on the way back to the dressing room after a derby defeat. And while he faced nothing like the venom the likes of Chris Ramsey have in the past, some fans made their feelings clear towards Holloway as he left the pitch. It was a day for the R’s to forget and for Brentford to savour.