QPR suffer defeat at Ipswich
Ipswich 3 QPR 0
A terrible mistake by keeper Alex Smithies contributed to QPR’s first defeat since Ian Holloway’s return as manager.
Trailing to Grant Ward’s 14th-minute goal, they found themselves two down nine minutes into the second half when Smithies made a total mess of an attempt to head a long ball clear.
It presented Luke Varney with a simple tap-in, and worse followed for Rangers when Tom Lawrence fired home to make it 3-0.
Sandro, on as a substitute, went close to pulling a goal back when his header from Tjaronn Chery’s corner hit the post.
Overall though, Rangers were disappointing and struggled to create clear-cut chances.
The opening goal came when Smithies punched a high ball as far as former Tottenham youngster Ward, whose scuffed shot went through a crowd of bodies and ended up in the net.
The visitors had made a decent start, with Chery firing over the Ipswich bar early on.
Ipswich should have gone 2-0 up before the break when Christophe Berra missed a great chance by heading Lawrence’s cross wide of the target.
And their lead was preserved by keeper Bartosz Białkowski, who produced a fine save to deny Conor Washington nine minutes before the break and also saved from Jordan Cousins early in the second half.
Smithies, on the other hand, fluffed his lines when called upon and once Ipswich were two up there was no way back for the R’s.
Holloway responded to the second goal with a double substitution, sending on Idrissa Sylla and Sandro for Sebastian Polter and James Perch, but Ipswich soon increased their lead.
Smithies, usually so impressive, prevented a fourth goal with fine saves from David McGoldrick and Freddie Sears late on.
QPR: Smithies, Onuoha, Hall, Lynch, Perch (Sandro 59), Cousins (Ngbakoto 66), Henry, Bidwell, Chery, Washington, Polter (Sylla 59).
Subs not used: Ingram, Wszolek, El Khayati, Shodipo.
