QPR see off Pompey to reach fifth round

QPR 2 Portsmouth 0

Second-half goals from Nahki Wells and Matt Smith sent QPR into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Rangers, who will face Watford at home for a place in the quarter-finals, dominated the replay at Loftus Road, where Darnell Furlong hit the bar before the deadlock was finally broken.

The breakthrough came with 20 minutes remaining.

Joel Lynch hooked the ball towards goal after Smith had headed down Luke Freeman’s left-wing corner, and Wells added the finishing touch from a yard out.

Smith, brought into the starting line-up along with Grant Hall, headed home seven minutes later to seal the victory.

Again the goal came via a Freeman set-piece, this time a free-kick from the left.

A Freeman corner had almost led to the opening goal eight minutes before half-time, when Furlong headed the Rangers playmaker’s right-wing delivery against the woodwork.

Earlier, Furlong created a chance for Smith, controlling Massimo Luongo’s cross-field ball on the right and picking out the Rangers striker, who headed wide.

Rangers continued to have the upper hand, with Luongo volleying over after Portsmouth failed to clear Freeman’s corner, before Smith was just unable to connect with another Furlong cross from the right.

Having gone so close to scoring, Furlong was in the thick of the action again early in the second half, this time threading an excellent pass through to Wells, who skipped away from Christian Burgess only to be denied by Matthew Clarke’s last-ditch challenge as he was about to shoot.

But Wells eventually got the goal his hardworking performance deserved and Smith’s emphatic finish meant Rangers finished the game comfortably.