Nottingham Forest v QPR player ratings
Toni Leistner’s goal clinched a first-ever win at Nottingham Forest for QPR. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 1-0 triumph at the City Ground.
Joe Lumley: 7
He only had one serious moment of action but it was breathtakingly good, both because of the quality of the fingertip save onto the bar from Adlene Guedioura’s fierce strike and the level of concentration following 90 minutes of having to do very little.
Jordan Cousins: 8
Solid and alert throughout, Cousins soon settled after a testing opening spell for the whole defence and played with impressive confidence.
Darnell Furlong: 8
Came under pressure from the lively Lewis Grabban early on but won the battle with an increasingly mature and confident performance
Toni Leistner: 9
A brilliant display even aside from the winning goal. Leistner was superb in the air, unflustered with the ball at his feet and coped admirably with Forest’s long-ball tactics in the closing stages. His organisational skills were key to the historic victory.
Jake Bidwell: 7
Used the ball intelligently when he could and struck the balance between keeping his shape and dropping deep to limit space in behind without leaving the midfield too isolated.
Pawel Wszolek: 8
He showed as much as anyone in a Rangers shirt when Forest were well on top early on and he continued to relieve pressure with some adventurous runs forward.
Massimo Luongo: 8
Tireless throughout, chasing, harrying and doing the ugly work in the centre of the pitch. He, along with Josh Scowen, provided a great shield in front of the back four and kept the dangerous Joao Carvalho quiet.
QPR boss Steve McClaren: “It’s an unbelievable result for us and I’m so proud of the players. It was a great team effort and that’s the key to it. It wasn’t about one outstanding individual, but everyone doing their job.”
Josh Scowen: 7
Another midfielder who ran endlessly and made a huge contribution to a commendable team performance. Scowen made some vital interceptions on his return to the side.
Luke Freeman: 7
Freeman was quietly effective for the most part, but his delivery for the winning goal was exquisite and was begging to be headed in.
Ebere Eze: 8
Eze had a tough first quarter of an hour, barely getting a sniff of action and being rushed on the rare occasions he did get near the ball. But his work-rate remained high, his running off the ball excellent and he took up some great positions on the break. He should have made more of one or two promising situations. However, it was still a performance full of maturity and shows he has more to his game than the undoubted quality when in possession.
Nahki Wells: 7
A selfless effort from a player who had no chance to add to his tally of five goals in the past nine games. Wells ran relentlessly across the backline and in behind with little hope of winning possession but recognising the importance of defending from the front.
