QPR’s run ends with defeat at home to Norwich
QPR 0 Norwich 1
Teemu Pukki’s second-half goal gave Norwich City victory at Loftus Road.
The Finland forward, signed from Danish side Brondby during the summer, netted on 71 minutes to give the Canaries a deserved three points.
Nice link-up play on the left created space for Marco Stiepermann, whose cross deflected off Rangers defender Toni Leistner towards an unmarked Pukki, who chested the ball past wrong-footed keeper Joe Lumley from 10 yards out.
The defeat brought QPR back down to earth after they had taken 10 points from a possible 12 in their previous four matches.
This time they were very much second best and Norwich had chances before eventually breaking the deadlock.
They went close to taking a 22nd-minute lead when Pukki slid in and was inches away from making contact with Jamal Lewis’ low cross from the left.
Another decent opportunity fell to the visitors when the lively Pukki pulled the ball back from the left to Stiepermann, who stabbed it straight at Lumley from near the edge of the six-yard box.
Rangers offered very little and their best moment before the interval came when Nahki Wells shot weakly at keeper Tim Krul from 20 yards after combining nicely with fellow on-loan striker Tomer Hemed.
Norwich were back on the front foot after the restart and missed another good chance, this time when Todd Cantwell steered his shot over after being found by Pukki’s ball in from the right.
The East Anglian team eventually found the net and they rarely looked like letting the hosts back into the game.
Massimo Luongo sliced a shot over the bar and Ebere Eze sent a low drive well wide as QPR tried in vain to find an equaliser.
Luke Freeman went closer, testing Krul with a powerful strike the Dutchman did well to tip over.
R’s boss Steve McClaren sent on target man Matt Smith in the closing stages, but Norwich weathered the aerial storm.
Young forward Eze, superb in Rangers’ midweek win over Millwall, struggled to make an impact this time, having been moved from his preferred central role out to the right wing.
Pukki, on the other hand, was at the centre of most of Norwich’s best work and again underlined his importance to Daniel Farke’s side.
The former Celtic man has now been directly involved in six of City’s last 11 league goals, scoring five of them.
QPR: Lumley, Baptiste (Cousins 77), Leistner (Smith 87), Lynch, Bidwell, Scowen (Osayi-Samuel 77), Luongo, Freeman, Eze, Wells, Hemed.
Subs not used: Ingram, Cameron, Kakay, Wszolek.
22/09/2018 @ 7:43 pm
Eze was the worst player on the park tonight,he has to be made to understand what is required of him,I fear he is beginning to believe all the positive press he is getting and forgetting the basics of the game,we effectively played with 10 men the whole match.McClaren is doing him no favours by Not pulling him off when he performs like tonight.