QPR are safely through to the third round of the Carabao Cup after seeing off Bristol Rovers. Here’s how we rated each Rangers player in the 3-1 win at Loftus Road.
Left out against Wigan three days earlier, Ingram was back between the sticks and barely put a foot wrong, with stops from Sam Matthews and Kyle Barrett denying Rovers a possible route back into the game.
The right-back was unlucky with the rebound that resulted in Ed Upson’s late consolation – and he played a part in two of Rangers’ goals, including an inch-perfect cross towards the head of Matt Smith.
The most experienced member of Rangers’ back four looked less solid than usual, presenting an opportunity to Barrett before misjudging the cross that led to Rovers reducing the deficit late on.
Hall looked understandably tentative on his first appearance in almost eight months and, while there were some errors, he produced an important block to foil Alex Rodman before being substituted midway through the second half.
Although the youngster’s first touch sometimes let him down, he grew in confidence as the game progressed, combining well with Bright Osayi-Samuel and delivering an incisive cross that almost led to a fourth Rangers goal.
Some of the youngster’s scampering crossfield runs came to nothing, but generally he linked up effectively with Pawel Wsolek and supplied the pass that enabled him to double Rangers’ lead.
Steve McClaren’s decision to deploy the Polish winger in a central role seemed a strange one, but he took his goal efficiently, firing low into the bottom corner to put the R’s 2-0 up on 18 minutes.
When Rovers afforded Cousins space, he took the chance to show off his passing ability with a series of sweeping balls out to the wing, but the midfielder looked a little less comfortable under pressure.
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Steve McClaren on Bright Osayi-Samuel: “He’s going to be a real star of the future. He’s not just got speed, he’s got that end product. He can cross, get assists and can score. He needs consistency in this game but that will only when he plays.”
Lively and confident on the ball, the winger’s technique was sound as he fired across the goalkeeper to open the scoring in the fifth minute and he went on to supply several testing crosses over the course of the game.
Smith buried his one clear chance – a header from Kakay’s cross to make it 3-0 – but did little else other than getting in the way of a Conor Washington shot.
Started well, providing the assist for Osayi-Samuel’s goal and then forcing a sharp save from Adam Smith, but he cut a more peripheral figure in the second half.
There were few opportunities for Smyth – who replaced Chair for the final half-hour – to catch the eye, with a couple of charging runs along the right flank snuffed out relatively easily.
The young centre-back was handed his debut when Hall went off and he read the game well, making a timely interception to break up a Rovers attack in the closing stages.
This post was last modified on 29/08/2018