Saturday 7th March 2009
Loftus Road Stadium
Referee: N Swarbrick
Attendance: 13718
Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Sheffield United
By thegodfather

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Delaney, Stewart, Leigertwood, Routledge, Blackstock, Gorkss, Connolly, Miller, Lopez, Di Carmine.

Sheffield United starting line-up: Kenny, Halford, Naysmith, Morgan, Kilgallon, Henderson, Webber, Montgomery, Howard, Quinn, Naughton.

Queens Park Rangers were held to a goalless draw by a very physical, hard-working and organised Sheffield United team this afternoon. Play from both sides was scrappy and disjointed with the fussy referee not helping matters, refusing to play the advantage rule at all costs. The Rs had the better of the chances and should have scored when Dexter Blackstock missed from three yards out. Both teams had opportunities to break the deadlock, all of which were squandered.

It was a lack of firepower up front that stopped QPR taking maximum points from today’s game. Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon dealt with Blackstock and Di Carmine with relative ease. When they did manage to break through the resilient Blades defence, the finishing was poor. I find myself saying it after every match, but Sousa’s side really do not have a cutting edge in attack. The approach-play is impressive but there is no end product. This has cost the Hoops points all season.

Once again, Rangers set out with a very flexible diamond formation, with Routledge at the peak of it. Wayne has proved to be a thorn in the opposition’s side on the right-flank since joining the Rs in January, so I really couldn’t see the logic in moving him into the centre. Any successful manager knows that players should be used in their natural position so it was incredibly frustrating to see arguably QPR’s most dangerous attacking threat being wasted in this way. There was one change from Tuesday night’s defeat against Norwich, Samuel Di Carmine replacing the off-form Heidar Helguson up front.

QPR started the game brightly, with some neat passing movements involving Miller and Lopez and they forced the first chance of the game in the 8th minute. Mikele Leigertwood received the ball in his own half and picked out Dexter Blackstock with a wonderful 30-yard lob. The Rs’ top scorer chested it down well but to my despair, fired straight at Paddy Kenny, who managed to push it clear to safety.

It was Blackstock who was at the centre of the action again in the 12th minute, bringing the ball down cleverly and volleying from the edge of the box, forcing a decent save out of Paddy Kenny. Lopez’s resulting corner, like most of his set-pieces this afternoon, came to nothing.

Sheffield United struck back in the 26th minute. Darius Henderson won a free-kick on the left wing for a foul by Damion Stewart (although the former Watford striker did seem to go down very easily). After Stewart had been booked, Naughton’s set-piece was delivered dangerously to the far post and Cerny was forced to palm the ball onto his cross-bar.

The fifteen minutes that followed were full of interruptions due to several “injuries” to Sheffield United players. Brian Howard took a tumble, clutching his leg in agony after what had seemed a fair challenge from Liam Miller, much to the frustration of the Queens Park Rangers supporters.

The next chance didn’t come until just before half-time, when Dexter Blackstock was played through by Di Carmine. Unfortunately, the former Southampton man’s touch was too heavy and he poked his shot wide of Kenny’s goal.

The final opportunity of the half came from a Jordi Lopez free-kick. The Spaniard’s 30-yarder was struck well but sailed straight into the arms of Paddy Kenny.

Half-time: Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Sheffield United

Both sides emerged for the second half unchanged. It was United who started the stronger, almost taking the lead just three minutes after the break. Nick Montgomery’s drive from the edge of the area forced Cerny into an dramatic save, palming the ball clear of danger.

Paulo Sousa responded by making his first substitution of the match, taking off Liam Miller for Matteo Alberti. I didn’t think that Miller had had his best game in a Rangers shirt – he seemed to give away possession far too much.

The Blades had another decent opportunity to go in front in the 54th minute. Greg Halford flicked the ball on to Webber inside the penalty area. Luckily, Cerny was on hand again to deny the former Manchester United and Watford striker.

In the 55th minute, once again, Blackstock came agonisingly close to hitting the back of the net. Mikele Leigertwood’s cross evaded Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon but the Rs’ top scorer sent his header inches wide.

After Kevin Blackwell had brought on Ward at the expense of Danny Webber, Queens Park Rangers almost took the lead. Lopez completely miscued his shot but it caused panic amongst the United defenders. With the ball bobbling around the penalty area, Gorkss and Di Carmine both had efforts cleared off the line by a combination of Kilgallon and Paddy Kenny. Dexter Blackstock’s follow up was somehow saved and then the ball was sent crashing into the side-netting. It all happened so quickly and many of the Rangers fans were celebrating a goal – but the referee signalled for a goal-kick. Quite how the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net is incredible, but it’s just another example of poor finishing from the QPR strikers.

After that disappointment, Sousa’s side managed to miss yet another ‘sitter’. Blackstock found space on the left-hand side and crossed the ball in for Matteo Alberti. With all the time and space in the world, the young Italian inexplicably smashed his shot over Kenny’s bar. Another unbelievable miss.

After two fortunate escapes, Sheffield United carved out a chance of their own in the 65th minute. Kyle Naughton made progress down the right wing, cut inside and unleashed a powerful shot towards Cerny’s near post. Fortunately, the QPR goalkeeper pushed the ball away from danger.

Sheffield United then made their second substitution of the match, bringing on Craig Beattie for Danny Webber. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Webber this afternoon – he looked a shadow of his former self and to my surprise, seemed to have lost a lot of his pace.

In the 73rd minute, Samuel Di Carmine turned skilfully and stung the palms of Paddy Kenny with a powerful drive. Immediately afterwards the Italian striker was replaced by youngster, Angelo Balanta.

The remaining fifteen minutes produced few clear-cut chances. Chris Morgan’s acrobatic attempt forced Cerny into another decent save, before Lopez struck a free-kick straight into the hands of Kenny. Hogan Ephraim replaced Mikele Leigertwood late on but didn’t really have enough time to make an impact on the match. After several time-wasting techniques from the Sheffield United players, Mr Swarbrick finally blew the full-time whistle.

Full-time: Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Sheffield United.

What the managers said…..

QPR Manager, Paulo Sousa: "It's not just today that we've been unlucky. This is a difficult moment for us in front of goal, but we are building. This last month or so has been tough, but I am happy with our solid base and we proved today that we are a good, good side. We returned to being a better solid team defensively today and I am pleased with that. At the other end, we created a lot of chances to win the game, but the final important touch was missing."

Sheffield United Manager, Kevin Blackwell: "Kenny's been brilliant. I rate him as the best goalkeeper in the Championship and a capable Premier League goalkeeper. If you are going to break records you need everyone to do something and he did. We had chances at the end so it was a fair result”.


Conclusion

This was certainly an improvement from the Ipswich and Norwich games. Rangers played some attractive football this afternoon and perhaps deserved the three points. However, what frustrated me was the Rs’ finishing. It has cost QPR so many points over the course of this season and no action seems to have been taken.

I disagree with Sousa. The art of finishing is not just about luck – it’s also about composure. The players seem to lack confidence in front of goal and that is preventing them from sticking the ball into the back of the net. In my view, the club have two options. Sign a proven goalscorer, or invest time and money into coaching the current strikers. Either way, something needs to be done.


Man of the match – I think that Matthew Connolly deserves this award. He put in a solid performance, showed some nice touches and kept the ball well.