My reports and previews are also available at www.wearetherangersboys.com.

Saturday 4th April 2009
Loftus Road Stadium
Referee: S W Mathieson
Attendance: 15234
Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Crystal Palace

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Delaney, Leigertwood, Routledge, Gorkss, Ramage, Connolly, Miller, Di Carmine, Taraabt, Ephraim.

Crystal Palace starting line-up: Speroni, Lawrence, Hill, Derry, Carle, Moses, Danns, Davis, Kuqi, Stokes, Clyne.

In my match preview I predicted that QPR would win this game by two goals to one. I think that I had let my heart rule my head because this match had a draw written all over it. Both sides occupy the middle positions of the Championship League table with neither promotion nor relegation being a serious proposition for either. And that was very much how it was today: Palace’s brawn and aggression cancelled out the deft footwork of QPR’s more technically gifted footballers and vice versa.

This was a London derby that was not pretty to watch. Once again Queens Park Rangers lacked the firepower up front to break through a resilient and at times over-physical Crystal Palace team. Chances were few and far between but Adel Taraabt should have won the game for Rangers in the second half when he was played through on goal, only then for him to blast his effort over the bar.

Neil Warnock has made an aggressive and physical style of play his trademark. I will admit to not being his greatest fan. The Palace tactic this afternoon seemed to be to elbow, shove, shirt pull and dive as much as possible, and unfortunately the referee, Mr. Mathieson, allowed far too much of this to go on. Perhaps he was intimidated by the looming presence of Mr. Warnock on the touchline and very few of his decisions seemed to go QPR’s way. In particular, in the closing stages of the match, the referee denied the Rs a clear-cut penalty after Rowan Vine’s cross was blatantly handled in the penalty area. This was after Sousa had been sent to the stands in disgrace at the end of the first half, after complaining about a kung-fu style kick on Di Carmine’s head by Claude Davis which had sent the young Italian crashing off the pitch.

Perhaps it was because Sousa was not pitchside that he made the decision to substitute Adel Taraabt, the player most likely to cause damage to the Palace defence. Many Queens Park Rangers fans and possibly the Chairman will be wondering if this was the right decision. What was very clear was that the Rs lacked someone with strength and raw pace up front. This has got to be addressed during the summer. QPR also missed Jordi Lopez in central midfield after he was ruled out through injury.

One positive was the return of Rowan Vine to first-team action after recovering from the broken leg he sustained last year. He was brought on with 20 minutes remaining and showed some nice touches on the ball. I didn’t think that he exhibited quite the same raw energy as he always did before his injury but that is surely to be expected from a player coming back after such a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Sousa set out with what appeared to be a rather flexible 4-5-1 formation. Di Carmine started on his own up front with Leigertwood, Miller and Ephraim in central midfield. Routledge and Taraabt played on the wings. Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly started in the heart of defence whilst Peter Ramage and Damien Delaney occupied the fullback positions.

After 13 minutes of scrappy play from both teams, Queens Park Rangers forced the first chance of the match. Wayne Routledge, who was getting a lot of abuse from the Palace supporters, played Miller through on goal. To my despair, his shot was pushed out by Speroni. Then, from the resulting corner, Taraabt whipped in a dangerous ball across the face of the goal, only for it to be cleared by Claude Davis.

In the 16th minute, Samuel Di Carmine was left clutching his face in agony after he received an elbow from Clint Hill. However, with Neil Warnock looking on from the touchline, the referee took no action.

Taraabt was at the centre of the play again in the 24th minute when he raced past two Palace players in central midfield. Julian Speroni pushed his shot out of play. The resulting corner, like most of QPR’s set pieces this afternoon, failed to beat the first man at the near post and was easily cleared.

The game continued to be incredibly scrappy. Clint Hill went down with an injury and was replaced by Jose Fonte in the 38th minute. However, the match livened up just before half time when Claude Davis’ boot appeared to connect with Di Carmine. Paulo Sousa was then sent to the stands for remonstrating with the referee.

Half time score: Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Crystal Palace

Paulo Sousa made one change for the second half, replacing Liam Miller with Lee Cook. Miller is clearly a player who is good on the ball but in my opinion does not cope well with the physical demands of this division. He was dispossessed far too easily in central midfield. Despite the introduction of Cook, it was Palace who started the half stronger.

In the 46th minute, the impressive Victor Moses sent the ball curling towards the top corner of the goal from 25 yards out. Fortunately, Radek Cerny was on hand to tip it over the bar.

However, QPR responded by almost taking the lead themselves. In the 48th minute, a cross from Damien Delaney found Wayne Routledge unmarked in the area. Unfortunately, under pressure from the Palace defenders, he sent his volley bobbling wide of Speroni’s goal.

Mr Mathieson failed to take action against a Palace player once again in the 51st minute when Victor Moses took a blatant dive in the penalty area. To my frustration, the referee did not produce a yellow card.

In the 57th minute, Adel Taraabt squandered the best opportunity of the game. Samuel Di Carmine flicked a long-ball on, playing the loanee through on goal. All he had to do was lift it over Speroni but under pressure from two Palace defenders, he smashed his shot just over the bar.

Matthew Lawrence, who had elbowed and pushed people off the ball all afternoon, was finally booked in the 59th minute for a foul on Lee Cook. Frustratingly, once again, the following free kick came to nothing.

In the 71st minute, Paulo Sousa made the bizarre decision to take off Adel Taraabt at the expense of Rowan Vine. Taraabt looked the most likely to unlock the Palace defence all afternoon. Whilst it was good to see Vine back in action I was left wondering how much better his return might have been had the mercurial Taraabt been his striking partner.

The match ended how it had begun. Play from both sides was incredibly disjointed and both seemed relatively happy with a draw. Paulo Sousa took off Samuel Di Carmine for Angelo Balanta in the 84th minute but the young Colombian striker wasn’t able to make an impact on proceedings. In the 89th minute, Rowan Vine’s cross was clearly handled in the area but the referee waved away the appeals. After three minutes of stoppage time, Mr Mathieson blew the full-time whistle.

Full-time: Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Crystal Palace

What the managers said…..

Paulo Sousa (on being sent to the stands): "I can't understand when a manager is looking out for his player. I care about my players and I went to see him, and I am sent to the stands. I said nothing to the referee, I was going to see my player. I think it was because I went out of my area."

Neil Warnock: "I told Paulo to calm down a bit. And to be fair he didn't do much - he was concerned about his lad who had blood coming out of his nose. The pitch was not very good, the first job they should do is get a new one, no matter how many millions you spend on players. If we were a bit more clinical we might have finished it off but a draw was probably a fair result."

Conclusion

I agree with Neil Warnock – a draw was a fair result. However, I thought that both the performance and the result were disappointing. Without the presence of Jordi Lopez in central midfield, Rangers lacked creativity and never really looked like scoring in open play. The set pieces were also poor. Time after time they failed to beat the first man at the near-post, being easily cleared.

On the other hand, defensively, I thought that Rangers were superb today. They restricted the Eagles to only a few opportunities. Ramage had another good game at right back and I thought that the centre-back partnership of Connolly and Gorkss looked very robust. Our attacking play is another matter altogether: there was simply no cutting edge again today and I hope the irony of the crowd chanting Dexter Blackstock’s name was not lost on the club’s Chairman and Directors.

I think that it is fair to say that QPR’s play-off hopes are over for this campaign. Should Sousa give some of the younger players the chance to shine? Or should he stick with the current team and aim for the highest league finish possible? It will certainly be interesting to see what happens.

Man of the match: Kaspars Gorkss. I thought that he had another superb game at the heart of defence. Well done Kaspars!