Kolli scores twice as QPR get first home win
Rayan Kolli scored twice as QPR finally got their first home win of the season – and climbed out of the Championship relegation zone.
Jimmy Dunne gave Rangers the lead before the 19-year-old Kolli, on as an early substitute for the injured Zan Celar, scored his first senior goals to seal an excellent victory.
Rangers, bottom of the table a couple of weeks ago, have now gone four matches without defeat and three without conceding a goal – a run which has included two wins.
Irish defender Dunne, whose father died earlier this week, gave them the lead after 22 minutes.
Norwich were unable to clear Nicolas Madsen’s right-wing corner and the ball ricocheted to Dunne, who poked it into the far corner with the outside of his left boot.
Dunne then performed heroics at the other end by producing a magnificent challenge to deny Borja Sainz, who had been played in by Ante Crnac after Jonathan Varane had given the ball away.
As Norwich pushed for an equaliser, Ben Slimane shot over from six yards out after being teed up by Jack Stacey’s pull-back.
Rangers made the most of that let-off by doubling their lead in first-half stoppage time, when Kenneth Paal delivered a perfect free-kick from the right and Kolli headed past keeper Angus Gunn.
And Kolli struck again four minutes into the second half – just after Sainz had a goal disallowed for offside.
Kolli dispossessed Callum Doyle near the halfway line, galloped towards the edge of the penalty area and fired under Gunn, who should have done better.
Kolli went close to completing a hat-trick, twice shooting narrowly wide of target, while Gunn produced a fine save to keep out a strike from Kieran Morgan.
QPR: Nardi; Dunne, Cook, Morrison (Fox 67), Paal (Ashby 45); Morgan, Varane, Smyth (Bennie 80), Madsen (Andersen 67), Saito, Celar (Kolli 13).
Subs not used: Walsh, Dixon-Bonner, Lloyd, Santos.
