Saturday 26th December 2009
The Coca Cola Championship
Loftus Road Stadium
Referee: D J Phillips
Attendance: 13,534
Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Bristol City
By The Godfather

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Ramage, Hall, Leigertwood, Routledge, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Watson, Faurlin, Williams, Simpson.

Bristol City starting line-up: Gerken, Orr, McAllister, Fontaine, Carey, Maynard, Hartley, Skuse, Williams, Haynes, Saborio.

Rangers needed to win this match. And they got the job done. It wasn't pretty at all, with QPR opting for strength and aggression instead of their usual skill and flair. The tactics were questionable at times, particularly when, with ten minutes to go, Hart chose to bring on Borrowdale and Connolly, creating an ultra-defensive formation. However, the main thing was that the Super Hoops picked up three points.

In truth, Bristol City supporters will feel that their team deserved at least a point for their efforts. They created more opportunities than Rangers and perhaps could have had a penalty in the second half (I'll have to watch that one again on the TV highlights). I felt that the Robins were let down by a combination of poor finishing and defending (although Maynard's second half goal was expertly taken).

As the match kicked off, I noticed that Hart had opted for what appeared to be a very flexible 4-2-3-1 formation. Ramage, Hall, Gorkss and Williams occupied the defensive positions, whilst Watson and Leigertwood took up the role of holding midfielders. Routledge, Buzsaky and Faurlin supported Simpson in attack. This system meant that the Rs looked more solid defensively, but left the team lacking width (a feature of Hart's tactics highlighted by the Pompey and Forest fans in my interview - see the OTHER ARTICLES page on the website for more details).

The away team started the match strongly, carving out a clear-cut opportunity within five minutes. A cross was only half-cleared by the QPR defenders and the ball fell to Gavin Williams on the edge of the box, who forced Cerny into a decent diving save.

Rangers almost gifted the Robins a goal seven minutes later. With an error almost identical to last Saturday's, Watson gave away the ball on City's left flank. Fortunately, just as Maynard progressed into the penalty area, Fitz Hall came in with a superb sliding challenge. This was another unremarkable performance from Ben. I must admit, I'm not convinced that the club should sign him on a permanent basis in January.

The Robins were threatening to take total control of the match and created another good chance in the 21st minute. Haynes received the ball on City's right flank and smashed in a shot that was deflected wide of Cerny's goal, only just evading Maynard. The resulting corner found Gavin Williams on the edge of the box, who fired straight at the QPR goalkeeper.

To QPR's credit, they responded to the Robins' early pressure very well indeed. And, during their first spell of dominance, they broke the deadlock. In the 31st minute, Fitz Hall received the ball on the Rs' right flank and sent a high and looping cross into the penalty area. Jay Simpson pounced on a defensive mistake and tucked it past Gerken into the back of the net.

To my delight, the Rs continued the momentum and should have doubled their advantage just four minutes later. Buzsaky found Williams with a well-timed pass and the loanee whipped in a superb ball across the face of the goal, which somehow avoided everyone in the penalty area.

However, in the 39th minute, the Super Hoops did score their second goal of the afternoon - and in some style. Picking the ball up on the right flank from a throw-in, Mikele Leigertwood cut inside and produced a fantastic 20-yard drive into the bottom corner of the net. Perhaps Gerken could have done better (he looked nervous throughout the match).

Bristol City responded by testing the QPR goalkeeper twice before the half-time whistle. First, in the 41st minute, Fontaine headed into the arms of Cerny from close range. Then, a 40-yard drive from Carey was saved quite comfortably.

Half-time: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Bristol City

Jay Simpson had a fantastic opportunity to kill the game off within five minutes of the restart. Routledge played the Arsenal loanee through on goal with a neat pass, but he unleashed an early shot when he could have taken another touch. To the travelling supporters' relief, the ball flew wide of Gerken's right hand post.

Rangers fans would be left ruing that missed opportunity, as seven minutes later, Bristol City found a way back into the match through a fantastic piece of skill from Nicky Maynard. The in-form striker chested a long-ball down on the edge of the box, turned and volleyed into the top corner of Cerny's goal.

Substitutions: QPR - Agyemang on for Faurlin (61 minutes).

Substitutions: Bristol City - Clarkson on for Saborio (69 minutes)
Sno on for Gavin Williams (69 minutes).

Bristol City, as one would expect from a team trailing 2-1, started to pile the pressure upon QPR's defence. At this point, the Robins seemed to have resorted to pumping the ball up the pitch in the hope of finding the head of Maynard or Clarkson. However, with Gorkss performing superbly once again, the Rs were coping.

In fact, the Super Hoops forced their final clear-cut opportunity of the match in the 78th minute. Routledge received the ball on the right-hand side, beat his man and crossed in for Agyemang. Under pressure from a City defender, the Ghanaian could only volley well over Gerken's goal.

Moments later, at the other end, Bristol City felt that they should have been awarded a penalty. Hartley's lofted ball released Maynard through on goal, but as he was about to pull the trigger, Hall appeared to push him to the floor. As already stated, I'll have to see the TV highlights tonight (that's if the BBC show the incident - frankly, I'm not very hopeful!).

My heart was in my mouth in the 82nd minute when a defensive mistake allowed Clarkson the opportunity to shoot from six yards out. To my relief, his effort hit the side-netting.

Bristol City substitution - Haynes off for Sproule (82 minutes).

Then, as the match approached its final stages, Paul Hart made the decision to bring on Connolly and Borrowdale at the expense of Buzsaky and Simpson. This meant that Rangers had six defenders on the pitch, something that was not popular with sections of the Loftus Road crowd. Although Rangers did go on to pick up the three points, I did feel that this tactic was a little too extreme. I can't help thinking that the Rs could have won the match without having to resort to switching to such a ultra defensive formation.

After four agonising minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the full time whistle, signalling the end to what had been a scrappy, but very entertaining match.

Full-time: Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Bristol City

What the managers said....

Paul Hart: "When you've been in football a long time, managing people's expectations seems to be as important as managing the team these days. We hadn't won in six games and there was an edginess in our game. We are fighting for any sort of rhythm but each player showed the right attitude. This club needed a win."

Gary Johnson: "I could say we were robbed but we have to do more as a team to compete in the top half of this division. My only gripe is the referee looked at his linesman with a question mark on his face. And that happened twice."

Conclusion

The main talking point on the message board has been Hart's decision to switch to an ultra defensive formation with ten minutes to go. Ultimately, the tactic was successful, as the Rs went on to win the game. However, was it really necessary to make such a negative change? Perhaps so. After all, Bristol City had brought on several strikers in an attempt to equalise - maybe the presence of two extra defenders was needed. But, had the manager kept the team's original shape, would the final stages of the match have been so nervy?

The important thing is that QPR picked up the three points. It was a below-par display from the Rs (I've seen them play far better and lose), but a victory was vital after going through such a lengthy winless run. It is the result that matters, not whether the performance was attractive or aggressive.

Man of the match: Kaspars Gorkss - on the whole, coped very well with the skilful Maynard. Another excellent performance from the Latvian. Another contender was Leigertwood - he scored a wonderful goal and broke up play in midfield throughout the match.