QPR were well beaten in a one-sided game at Loftus Road. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 3-0 defeat.
A helpless spectator for Middlesbrough’s first two goals, Smithies might have done better with the third, but his diving save to deny Rudy Gestede did at least prevent further damage.
Furlong looked more comfortable as an orthodox right-back, but he performed well against Adama Traore in the first half and also kept Rangers in the game with a vital block from Stewart Downing.
The skipper did his best to hold things together at the back, but his positioning was suspect and he should have got closer to George Friend before he unleashed his long-range strike to make it 2-0.
Rangers needed to chase the game and reduce their defensive quota – but the ‘Georges Santos’ experiment that took Lynch up front late in the first half was hardly a success.
Robinson had one of those days where his attacking threat outweighed his defensive display – he failed to pick up Daniel Ayala for Boro’s opener and was left for dead as Traore netted the third.
Bidwell put in a generally solid display, snuffing out an early chance for Britt Assombalonga, but he was sacrificed for tactical reasons at half-time as Rangers switched to a back four.
Rangers’ only hope of salvaging something rested on Luongo’s creative talent and he managed to set up a few half-chances, as well as going close with a snap shot of his own in the second half.
After a promising start, when he initiated a counter-attack down the left flank, Scowen began to flounder and gave the ball away frequently with some wayward passing.
Freeman found himself squeezed out of the game for long spells and that frustration led him to attempt several ‘death or glory’ runs later on, none of which met with success.
Having scored on his first start against Burton, Oteh looked overly eager to impress again – but he was largely ineffective and made way for Matt Smith at half-time.
Washington tried to make use of the channels, but was often starved of service and only two scoring opportunities came his way, one missing the target and the other easily saved by Darren Randolph.
Having replaced Bidwell for the second half, Osayi-Samuel provided more width and produced some nice touches without ever finding the killer cross that might have got Rangers on the scoresheet.
Smith was introduced at half-time and achieved relatively little other than falling over and misdirecting his headers, including a rare scoring opportunity courtesy of Freeman’s corner.
The young forward went on in place of Scowen for the final 20 minutes and he looked confident and tidy, showing willingness to chase what was fast becoming a lost cause.
This post was last modified on 21/01/2018
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I would give 4's across the board. QPR had a 15 minute spell at the start of the game where we were 1st to the ball and looked mildly threatening albeit rather toothless. On around the 25 minute mark the ball goes out for a throw, Tony Pulis picks up the ball and throws it quickly to his player, from Pulis body language he wanted his team to up its tempo. From that moment the game swung in Middlesbro favour. Adama Traore was in different class, as were a few others. If we could have capitalised during our 15 min spell it may have stopped Middlesbro growing into the game. But we simply don't have the tools in the box to do that.