QPR v Aston Villa player ratings
QPR’s woes continued with another defeat – their fifth in a row. Here’s how we rated the players against Aston Villa.
Alex Smithies: 8
The penalty saviour once again – Smithies has saved five in the seven he has faced at QPR. Once again, though, he was also the saviour in open play, with a number of fine saves to keep the R’s in the game before they ultimately fell behind. They simply cannot keep relying on him though.
James Perch: 6
A decent display. Wasn’t overly threatened at the back and provided some threat of his own going forward.
Joel Lynch: 6
Caught the wrong side of his man two or three times, including when Jonathan Kodija escaped to score Villa’s goal. A real shame as he was having another solid game before then.
Nedum Onuoha: 6
Nothing particularly good or bad. Coped well with Villa’s pacey forward line and was largely quick to find a pass.
Jake Bidwell: 6
A steady performance all-round, but – as his manager mentioned after the game – his crossing was unusually poor.
Grant Hall: 7
Composed and combative. Hall worked hard to help cover at the back and passed the ball around nicely in the middle of the pitch. His move to midfield, where his height also comes in handy, appears to be working – so far.
Massimo Luongo: 6
Worked hard in midfield and showed some flashes of his excellent form from earlier in the season. But the Australian, like all of QPR’s attack-minded players, found it hard to produce anything in the final third of the pitch.
Tjaronn Chery: 6
Deployed a lot deeper than normal, Chery could often be found picking the ball up from the toes of the R’s centre-halves – a canny attempt to get the Dutchman on the ball more often. His set pieces were again disappointing and his shooting boots seem to have been locked away for the winter.
Pawel Wszolek: 6
Unlucky to concede a soft penalty, but the Polish winger did his best to make up for it, without really having a spark in his display.
Yeni Ngbakoto: 6
Lively and a willing runner on the ball – something the R’s have been lacking. But another who was unable to make a solid impact in the final third.
Conor Washington: 6
Full of running, but little end product – particularly when he found himself on either flank. The R’s again failed to play to the striker’s strengths, often lofting the ball in his general direction against taller and stronger centre-halves. When the ball was played around or over the top of the visitors’ backline, it was into an area that Washington was always going to struggle to make something happen. As such, their fortunes improved when he was replaced by Idrissa Sylla at half-time.
Idrissa Sylla: 6
Used his height and strength to good effect, but it was all too far away from goal.
Olamide Shodipo: 6
A lively cameo that also led to an increase in the volume from the home fans, but the youngster failed to make any telling contributions.
Jamie Mackie: 6
Great to see Mackie back on the field and his busy, hassling, rugged style of play could be what Rangers need over the festive and New Year period of games.
