QPR v Derby player ratings
Massimo Luongo’s late header earned a deserved point for QPR against Derby. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 1-1 draw at Loftus Road.
Alex Smithies: 7
Could do nothing to prevent Derby’s goal – and it was thanks to the goalkeeper’s incredible agility that Curtis Davies and David Nugent were prevented from making it 2-0 after half-time.
Darnell Furlong: 7
One of Rangers’ better performers, Furlong tackled well and his long throws gave the Derby defence a few problems. He even had a chance to score in the second half, but snatched at it too hastily.
Nedum Onuoha: 6
The skipper looked more solid than against Nottingham Forest, but there were still a few questionable moments, such as the error that gifted Tom Lawrence a run at goal in the first half.
Jack Robinson: 7
Although he allowed Nugent to escape early on, Robinson produced a series of crunching tackles to snuff out Rams attacks throughout the game and looked composed bringing the ball out of defence.
Jake Bidwell: 6
Restored to an orthodox left-back role, Bidwell’s positioning was nevertheless variable, along with his distribution – an up and under towards the diminutive Paul Smyth underlining the point.
Massimo Luongo: 7
Finding himself in space, Luongo took the wrong option on more than one occasion. Fortunately, he capitalised fully on the available space to head Rangers’ equaliser three minutes from time.
Josh Scowen: 6
An improvement on Scowen’s poor performance against Forest – yet still below the standard he has set, allowing Kasey Palmer away from him to set up Andreas Weimann’s goal.
Luke Freeman: 7
Manoeuvred himself into good positions but sometimes failed to make the most of them, although his 30-yarder to test Scott Carson was the closest Rangers came to scoring in the second half prior to the equaliser. And his set-piece delivery was crucial again, this time with the free-kick which led to Luongo’s goal.
Ian Holloway’s verdict: “Some of these young lads have already shown they’ve got bundles of ability. It’s now about getting them to believe in it and win us some games and get some more points. All can I ask of them is to keep going and they’ve done that. We’ve got the last quarter of the season left and I’ve got some wonderfully talented young lads.“Paul Smyth: 8
A fantastic attitude, willingness to run at defenders and to track back, epitomised by his challenge on Lawrence just before half-time. It all made Smyth Rangers’ stand-out player by some distance.
Matt Smith: 6
The big centre-forward was unlucky with an early attempt that spun onto the post but he otherwise failed to make much impression as he got little change out of Davies, who shackled him well.
Conor Washington: 5
A poor touch from Washington almost gave away a goal – and his failure to get near Palmer soon afterwards did lead to Derby’s opener. Apart from that, he was peripheral to the game at best.
Ebere Eze: 8
Replacing Washington on the hour, Eze looked confident on the ball and helped to give Rangers fresh impetus with a wave of attacking bursts into Derby territory.
Pawel Wsolek: 6
The Polish winger came on for the final 20 minutes in place of Furlong and linked up effectively with Smyth, as well as supplying one notable cross that Smith headed wide.
Joel Lynch: 6
Lynch’s cameo at centre-forward was brief, yet it might have been a memorable one had he not blasted straight at Carson after being put through in added time.
