Queens Park Rangers claimed an emphatic 2-0 victory against relegation rivals Crystal Palace to move further away from the drop zone. Akos Buzsaky’s first half screamer and Kaspars Gorkss header on the hour mark secured a vital three points for the R’s, as Palace’s problems deepen. Paul Hart’s side lie just one point and a single position above the relegation places, and have only three games in which to guarantee their Championship survival. Palace were surprisingly lacklustre and comprehensively beaten by Rangers, who could and should have added to their tally. However the game was marred by a horrific injury to QPR defender Damion Stewart, who was involved in a nasty-looking collision with Palace forward Calvin Andrew. Stewart is said to be stable, however he has suffered a crack to his skull, following the incident described by Warnock as a “savage collision”. Jay Simpson was brought on to replace the Rangers stopper as Warnock shuffled his pack, before Hogan Ephraim’s shot wasn’t cleared by the Palace defence, with the ball falling to Tamas Priskin who teed up Buzsaky for his tenth goal of the campaign. The home side almost grabbed an unlikely equaliser when Darren Ambrose’s pass cut the Queens Park Rangers defence open, but Clint Hill’s effort was well saved by the returning Radek Cerny, restored to the starting line-up following Carl Ikeme’s return to Wolves. Neil Danns spurned a good opportunity for Palace, firing wide before Rangers doubled their advantage. Julian Speroni thought he had prevented the ball crossing the line for Palace, and replays appeared to indicate that he was right, but the officials signalled for a corner to QPR. On-loan Adel Taarabt, clearly the most talented man on the pitch, centred the ball perfectly for Gorkss to head home and seal the result for the visitors. Simpson ought to have put the icing on the cake for the R’s, but it didn’t matter as QPR ended a run of seven games without a victory. Warnock, who had been expecting a torrent of abuse from the home fans, was applauded by all but a small section of the crowd. On the reception he received, the Rangers boss said “I expected a lot more boos, so I was quite emotional”, whilst adding “we got the points but I haven't really enjoyed anything about today”. Palace boss Paul Hart was understandably disappointed, stating “that was probably our worst performance since I got here. QPR played very well but it was a really off-day for us.” With QPR all but assured of Championship football next season, the pressure is now very much on Palace to ensure that their season doesn’t end in disappointment, having already suffered a ten-point deduction earlier in the campaign.
Saturday 10 April 2010
QPR the only winners in Championship relegation race job swap
Queens Park Rangers claimed an emphatic 2-0 victory against relegation rivals Crystal Palace to move further away from the drop zone. Akos Buzsaky’s first half screamer and Kaspars Gorkss header on the hour mark secured a vital three points for the R’s, as Palace’s problems deepen. Paul Hart’s side lie just one point and a single position above the relegation places, and have only three games in which to guarantee their Championship survival. Palace were surprisingly lacklustre and comprehensively beaten by Rangers, who could and should have added to their tally. However the game was marred by a horrific injury to QPR defender Damion Stewart, who was involved in a nasty-looking collision with Palace forward Calvin Andrew. Stewart is said to be stable, however he has suffered a crack to his skull, following the incident described by Warnock as a “savage collision”. Jay Simpson was brought on to replace the Rangers stopper as Warnock shuffled his pack, before Hogan Ephraim’s shot wasn’t cleared by the Palace defence, with the ball falling to Tamas Priskin who teed up Buzsaky for his tenth goal of the campaign. The home side almost grabbed an unlikely equaliser when Darren Ambrose’s pass cut the Queens Park Rangers defence open, but Clint Hill’s effort was well saved by the returning Radek Cerny, restored to the starting line-up following Carl Ikeme’s return to Wolves. Neil Danns spurned a good opportunity for Palace, firing wide before Rangers doubled their advantage. Julian Speroni thought he had prevented the ball crossing the line for Palace, and replays appeared to indicate that he was right, but the officials signalled for a corner to QPR. On-loan Adel Taarabt, clearly the most talented man on the pitch, centred the ball perfectly for Gorkss to head home and seal the result for the visitors. Simpson ought to have put the icing on the cake for the R’s, but it didn’t matter as QPR ended a run of seven games without a victory. Warnock, who had been expecting a torrent of abuse from the home fans, was applauded by all but a small section of the crowd. On the reception he received, the Rangers boss said “I expected a lot more boos, so I was quite emotional”, whilst adding “we got the points but I haven't really enjoyed anything about today”. Palace boss Paul Hart was understandably disappointed, stating “that was probably our worst performance since I got here. QPR played very well but it was a really off-day for us.” With QPR all but assured of Championship football next season, the pressure is now very much on Palace to ensure that their season doesn’t end in disappointment, having already suffered a ten-point deduction earlier in the campaign.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment