Thrashing at City confirms QPR’s relegation

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Manchester City 6 QPR 0

QPR suffered a humiliating thrashing at the Etihad Stadium and the defeat sealed their relegation back to the Championship.

They never looked like earning the win they needed to keep their slim survival hopes alive, as a hat-trick from Sergio Aguero alongside goals from Aleksandar Kolarov, James Milner and David Silva saw Rangers easily beaten and relegated with a whimper.

QPR’s day got off to the worst possible start even prior to kick-off, with the omission of Brazilian midfielder Sandro because of an issue with his UK residency visa. In his place came Bobby Zamora, while Yun Suk-Young replaced the suspended Nedum Onuoha.

And it didn’t take long for Rangers to be put on the backfoot when Aguero was played through on goal after two minutes. The Argentine’s shot was blocked by the R’s defence, but the striker made no mistake moments later.

Charlie Austin's goals were not enough to keep QPR up
Charlie Austin’s goals were not enough to keep QPR up

Sloppy defending by Steven Caulker allowed Aguero to wriggle through, before he lifted a delightful lob over the on-rushing Rob Green.

After a period of pressure from the away side, QPR thought they had drawn level on 20 minutes, but Charlie Austin’s header from a sublime Yun cross was correctly ruled out for offside.

Ten minutes later, City doubled their lead – Kolarov’s 25 yard free-kick curled through a gap in the Rangers wall and into Green’s goal.

While the home side enjoyed much of the play, it was the away team who nearly scored five minutes before half-time. However, Zamora was unable to head home a rebound after Leroy Fer’s lob struck the City crossbar.

Any hopes of a revival were dashed five minutes into the second half when City made it 3-0 after another defensive error.

This time it was Yun who let the ball run under his feet and into the path of Aguero, who raced through on goal before slotting a cool finish past Green.

Substitue Junior Holiett stung the palms of Hart with a long-range strike before Green twice came to QPR’s rescue with fine saves from Silva and Kolarov.

But the keeper was again beaten, this time from the spot after Matty Phillips had bundled over Silva – Aguero sent Green the wrong way to secure his hat-trick.

With 20 minutes left, Milner made it 5-0 to City with a tap in from an Aguero cross, and Silva added a sixth with minutes remaining after clever play from Wilfried Bony.

QPR: Green, Caulker, Dunne, Hill, Yun (Wright-Phillips, 84), Phillips, Henry, Barton, Fer (Krancjar 77), Austin, Zamora (Hoilett, 51).
Subs not used: McCarthy, Furlong, Grego-Cox, Comley.

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