QPR made it three league wins a row by beating Luton in an action-packed game at Loftus Road. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 3-2 victory.
The keeper’s calamitous misplaced pass enabled Harry Cornick to hand Luton a lifeline after they had looked totally out of the game, and, other than a late save to deny George Moncur, he had little else to do.
Although he largely kept Kazenga Lua Lua under wraps, Hall’s dreadful ball to Toni Leistner almost gifted the visitors a second goal soon after the first and he was booked late on for an untidy tussle with Sonny Bradley.
Overall the German was the most solid of Rangers’ three centre-backs and his excellent reading of the game and created Nakhi Wells’ first goal with a pinpoint ball over the top of the Luton defence.
Barbet looks more at home in a three-man back line and, while he still made errors, the Frenchman held firm to ensure Rangers saw out the game with a last-ditch challenge on James Collins.
The change of formation allowed Kane even more freedom to bomb up and down the right flank, but his crossing was generally below par and he made way for Luke Amos in the final 20 minutes.
Although Ball was fortunate to get away with a sliding challenge on Isaiah Brown, he brought plenty of energy to midfield, as well as spraying some good cross-field passes and getting forward to join the attack when needed.
A constant threat during the first half-hour, Chair’s pass set up the opening goal for Ebere Eze and he continued to exploit gaps in Luton’s defence, but faded in the second half and was withdrawn after 73 minutes.
With his defensive duties eased by the switch to wing-back, Manning flourished along the left flank and supplied accurate crosses to create good opportunities for Eze and Wells, among others.
Having opened the scoring and set up a goal for Wells, Eze looked at his majestic best whenever he got on the ball – and could easily have registered a hat-trick, rattling the woodwork twice.
The striker’s movement was excellent, with two clinical finishes earning Rangers a 3-0 lead and he might have completed a treble, but headed Manning’s cross wide on the stroke of half-time.
Although he held the ball up effectively, Hugill wasted three good chances to kill the contest during the second half – and, more alarmingly, failed to force a save from the keeper with any of them.
Replacing Wells for the last quarter of the game, Mlakar never really posed much threat until injury time, when he forced his way into a shooting position only to bundle the opportunity wide.
Brought on at right wing-back for the final 20 minutes, Amos combined attacking and defensive duties efficiently and set up a counter-attack that eventually ended with Hugill firing over the bar.
Rangers needed a cool, experienced head as they held on in the closing stages – and Pugh provided that after replacing Chair, as well as getting forward in search of a fourth goal.