Nahki Wells’ second-half strike gave QPR a deserved victory over Middlesbrough at Loftus Road. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 2-1 win.
While there wasn’t a great deal to keep Lumley occupied, he lacked authority when dealing with crosses and got into a tangle when he opted to punch out a Stewart Downing free-kick.
Even though he misjudged the cross that led to Boro’s equaliser, Furlong looked sound both at right-back and in central defence, making a crucial block to foil substitute Ashley Fletcher in the closing stages.
The captain came to Rangers’ rescue on several occasions, getting his head to some dangerous crosses and shifted across seamlessly to the left-hand side of defence after Joel Lynch’s departure.
Apart from one early lapse, when Jordan Hugill succeeded in giving him the slip, Lynch was generally solid at the back before hobbling off with dead leg early in the second half.
Bidwell delivered a precision cross to set up Rangers’ fourth-minute opener for Pawel Wszolek and played his part at the other end of the field, throwing himself into the path of a Downing shot just before half-time.
The winger timed his run perfectly to put Rangers ahead, then picked out Nahki Wells to score the winner. But he also wasted a chance to make it 3-1 and was fortunate not to be booked for a poor challenge on George Friend in added time.
Looked more influential as the game continued, getting his foot in where it was needed and bringing the ball out to good effect – even if some of his passing was overly ambitious.
The midfielder exuded energy and desire from the first whistle, putting down a marker with some lively tackles, but his hesitancy on the ball after switching to right-back later in the game almost proved costly.
The architect of Rangers’ opening goal when he released Bidwell with a well-timed lay-off, Freeman continued to work his way into good positions, only to be let down by some inconsistent crossing.
Stifled by Adam Clayton early on, Eze gradually found more space and opportunities, with his quick thinking setting up a series of counter-attacks as Rangers defended their lead during the final half-hour.
Full of running, persistence and agile footwork, Wells produced a clinical finish to restore Rangers’ advantage on the hour and was unlucky not to grab at least one more goal after turning his marker with ease.
Having replaced Lynch soon after half-time, Scowen was involved in several breaks from midfield and pounced on Ryan Shotton’s loose pass to set up a late opportunity that Wszolek squandered.
This post was last modified on 16/12/2018
View Comments
Agree but I feel Bidwell deserves credit for not retaliating when Assombalonga wrestled him to the ground and held him there. probably designed to keep his players onside or draw a penalty reaction.
Onwards & upwards but this was a good result against a long ball side (Pulis again) making it easy.
No obvious disagreement,, would have swapped Exe for Freemans score.. Overall a good battling performance against a side who will be there at the end of the season. Now on to first win at Forest.