Leeds United 0 QPR 1
Clint Hill’s 75th-minute goal gave QPR a tremendous victory at Elland Road.
The captain scored from close range after former Rangers keeper Paddy Kenny failed to hold Joey Barton’s left-wing free-kick.
It clinched a deserved win for the visitors, who thought they had gone ahead when Barton netted in the 10th minute after a nice move only to be wrongly adjudged to be offside.
Having been denied a perfectly good goal Rangers continued to create openings, with Shaun Wright-Phillips heading wide following Danny Simpson’s cross.
Leeds then enjoyed a decent spell of first-half pressure and Nedum Onuoha spared Karl Henry’s blushes by denying Ross McCormack with a fine block after the R’s midfielder had given the ball away.
A similar lapse by Stephen Warnock almost led to a QPR goal early in the second half.
Warnock’s poor back-pass put Charlie Austin in but the striker was unable to find a way past Kenny.
After the home fans appealed in vain for a penalty when the ball struck Henry’s shoulder, Austin missed another chance, this time shooting high and wide after being teed up by Wright-Phillips.
But Hill eventually broke the deadlock and Rangers almost doubled their lead when the fit-again Junior Hoilett – on as a substitute – headed wide from Andy Johnson’s cross.
Leeds could not find an equaliser but came mightily close in the final seconds, when Rodolph Austin’s long-range effort hit the top of the bar.
QPR (4-4-2):Green; Simpson, Dunne, Onuoha, Hill; O’Neil (Hoilett 64), Barton, Henry (Faurlin 72), Wright-Phillips; Johnson (Jenas 88), Austin.
Subs not used. Yun, Zamora, Murphy, Shariff.
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This post was last modified on 01/09/2013