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Queens Park Rangers 2 Coventry City 1: match report
Read a full match report of the Championship game between Queens Park Rangers and Coventry City at Loftus Road on Sunday Jan 23 2011.
Gifted: QPR's Adel Taarabt leaves Coventry's Stephen O'Halloran in his wake Photo: ACTION IMAGES
By Neil Trainis 8:12PM GMT 23 Jan 2011
The returning Wayne Routledge played a key part as Queens Park Rangers regained their bearings as Championship leaders.
Routledge was insatiable on the right, clearly determined to prove to Alan Pardew that he was wrong to allow him to momentarily leave Newcastle United.
The source of his goal which saw off a durable Coventry City was inevitably Adel Taarabt. A nonchalant swish with the outside of his right boot in the second half found Routledge breaking through to score.
“The difference between the two sides was Taarabt,” said Coventry manager Aidy Boothroyd. “He’s an exceptional player. I was tempted to run on and kick him at one stage. He was terrific. With the talent he has got you have to ask why he’s here, and that’s no disrespect to QPR.”
That last comment hinted at the Moroccan’s temperament when gracing grander stages. “You’re going to get frustrated with him at times but you won’t see a better ball for the second goal in the world,” said Neil Warnock, the QPR manager.
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“Not in a million years have I ever dreamed of managing a player like him. He thinks he should be playing for Real Madrid. He could play for them but first of all he’s got to help me finish my career in the right way. He’ll probably end up playing in Saudi Arabia where they pay players a million pounds a game.”
Coventry competed with relish, inspired by goalkeeper Keiren Westwood. Athletic saves denied Shaun Derry and Ishmael Miller, an effervescent presence on his first appearance since arriving on loan from West Bromwich Albion.
Not for the first time this season, though, Taarabt indelibly marked a football match with his own brand of genius. His side trailed to an opportunist goal from Marlon King when he took down Paddy Kenny’s long goal-kick in an instant, slipped past Gary McSheffrey and Richard Keogh and curled a delicious shot into the top corner.
QPR are not quite one-dimensional but they labour when Taarabt is nullified or below par.
Nonetheless, victory was as much a reason for relief as it was celebration. QPR, after all, had taken just eight points from a possible 21 before this match and, considering the intolerance of demanding owners desperate for Premier League football, a fine start to the campaign had suddenly evaporated into a haze.
“I’ve not been concerned,” Warnock insisted. “We’ve been playing well. We now have a squad to cope with two games in a week. We couldn’t have got anyone better than Routledge, Pascal Chimbonda and Miller.”
QPR often take a stranglehold of games at Loftus Road and Coventry were instantly shunted back.
Routledge sped past McSheffrey and whipped in a cross that found Helguson, whose shot was blocked. When the ball ricocheted back into the area, Routledge reacted quickest and drilled in another delivery that Helguson nodded off target.
There was little hint that Coventry might get a foothold in the match, much less forge a lead, but QPR habitually offer glimpses of their susceptibility to direct football. King has divided opinion among Coventry followers since his move to the club in the wake of run-ins with the law and his every touch was greeted by boos. Yet that dissatisfaction soon melted away. A long punt downfield undid QPR and the ball was worked out to McSheffrey, whose low cross was missed by Matthew Connolly and converted by King.
For a while the game lay on a knife-edge. Freddie Eastwood dragged a chance wide and Alejandro Faurlin’s free kick struck a post.
Will they cut it in Premier League?
The squad
Championship experience has complimented youthful zest this season. And there has been Adel Taarabt trying to prove Spurs should have kept him. However, QPR are over-reliant on Taarabt, their leading league scorer with 12 goals. A 4-2-3-1 demands width from full-back but Bradley Orr and Clint Hill fail to penetrate even if Tommy Smith has impressed.
Tactics
Neil Warnock’s 4-2-3-1 has made QPR impenetrable. Defensive sturdiness in Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly blends with holding midfielders, Shaun Derry and Alejandro Faurlin, to liberate Taarabt to lead a three-pronged attacking midfield seeking to break beyond a lone forward.
Durability
A contrast between ruggedness and elegance has seen off Championship opponents but top-flight clubs will be a lot shrewder in countering such an approach. Taarabt takes a breather in games but his colleagues run for 90 minutes.
Plan B
Resilience and discipline are QPR hallmarks but the dependence on Taarabt for invention will be crippling. When he fails to play well, QPR struggle. A plan B will be required.
Match details
Queens Park Rangers (4-2-3-1): Kenny; Orr, Connolly, Gorkss, Hill; Derry, Faurlin; Routledge (Ephraim 90), Taarabt, Smith (Hall 83); Helguson (Miller 55).
Subs: Cerny (g), Clarke, Hulse, Moen.
Booked: Derry.
Coventry City (4-4-2): Westwood; Keogh, Cranie, Wood, O’Halloran; Baker, Gunnarsson, Doyle (Clingan 67), McSheffrey (Platt 79); Eastwood (Jutkiewicz 46), King.
Subs: Ireland (g), Bell, Clarke, Cameron.
Booked: Doyle, O’Halloran.
Referee: M Haywood (West Yorkshire).
Read a full match report of the Championship game between Queens Park Rangers and Coventry City at Loftus Road on Sunday Jan 23 2011.
Gifted: QPR's Adel Taarabt leaves Coventry's Stephen O'Halloran in his wake Photo: ACTION IMAGES
By Neil Trainis 8:12PM GMT 23 Jan 2011
The returning Wayne Routledge played a key part as Queens Park Rangers regained their bearings as Championship leaders.
Routledge was insatiable on the right, clearly determined to prove to Alan Pardew that he was wrong to allow him to momentarily leave Newcastle United.
The source of his goal which saw off a durable Coventry City was inevitably Adel Taarabt. A nonchalant swish with the outside of his right boot in the second half found Routledge breaking through to score.
“The difference between the two sides was Taarabt,” said Coventry manager Aidy Boothroyd. “He’s an exceptional player. I was tempted to run on and kick him at one stage. He was terrific. With the talent he has got you have to ask why he’s here, and that’s no disrespect to QPR.”
That last comment hinted at the Moroccan’s temperament when gracing grander stages. “You’re going to get frustrated with him at times but you won’t see a better ball for the second goal in the world,” said Neil Warnock, the QPR manager.
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Cup romance shattered 10 Jan 2011
“Not in a million years have I ever dreamed of managing a player like him. He thinks he should be playing for Real Madrid. He could play for them but first of all he’s got to help me finish my career in the right way. He’ll probably end up playing in Saudi Arabia where they pay players a million pounds a game.”
Coventry competed with relish, inspired by goalkeeper Keiren Westwood. Athletic saves denied Shaun Derry and Ishmael Miller, an effervescent presence on his first appearance since arriving on loan from West Bromwich Albion.
Not for the first time this season, though, Taarabt indelibly marked a football match with his own brand of genius. His side trailed to an opportunist goal from Marlon King when he took down Paddy Kenny’s long goal-kick in an instant, slipped past Gary McSheffrey and Richard Keogh and curled a delicious shot into the top corner.
QPR are not quite one-dimensional but they labour when Taarabt is nullified or below par.
Nonetheless, victory was as much a reason for relief as it was celebration. QPR, after all, had taken just eight points from a possible 21 before this match and, considering the intolerance of demanding owners desperate for Premier League football, a fine start to the campaign had suddenly evaporated into a haze.
“I’ve not been concerned,” Warnock insisted. “We’ve been playing well. We now have a squad to cope with two games in a week. We couldn’t have got anyone better than Routledge, Pascal Chimbonda and Miller.”
QPR often take a stranglehold of games at Loftus Road and Coventry were instantly shunted back.
Routledge sped past McSheffrey and whipped in a cross that found Helguson, whose shot was blocked. When the ball ricocheted back into the area, Routledge reacted quickest and drilled in another delivery that Helguson nodded off target.
There was little hint that Coventry might get a foothold in the match, much less forge a lead, but QPR habitually offer glimpses of their susceptibility to direct football. King has divided opinion among Coventry followers since his move to the club in the wake of run-ins with the law and his every touch was greeted by boos. Yet that dissatisfaction soon melted away. A long punt downfield undid QPR and the ball was worked out to McSheffrey, whose low cross was missed by Matthew Connolly and converted by King.
For a while the game lay on a knife-edge. Freddie Eastwood dragged a chance wide and Alejandro Faurlin’s free kick struck a post.
Will they cut it in Premier League?
The squad
Championship experience has complimented youthful zest this season. And there has been Adel Taarabt trying to prove Spurs should have kept him. However, QPR are over-reliant on Taarabt, their leading league scorer with 12 goals. A 4-2-3-1 demands width from full-back but Bradley Orr and Clint Hill fail to penetrate even if Tommy Smith has impressed.
Tactics
Neil Warnock’s 4-2-3-1 has made QPR impenetrable. Defensive sturdiness in Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly blends with holding midfielders, Shaun Derry and Alejandro Faurlin, to liberate Taarabt to lead a three-pronged attacking midfield seeking to break beyond a lone forward.
Durability
A contrast between ruggedness and elegance has seen off Championship opponents but top-flight clubs will be a lot shrewder in countering such an approach. Taarabt takes a breather in games but his colleagues run for 90 minutes.
Plan B
Resilience and discipline are QPR hallmarks but the dependence on Taarabt for invention will be crippling. When he fails to play well, QPR struggle. A plan B will be required.
Match details
Queens Park Rangers (4-2-3-1): Kenny; Orr, Connolly, Gorkss, Hill; Derry, Faurlin; Routledge (Ephraim 90), Taarabt, Smith (Hall 83); Helguson (Miller 55).
Subs: Cerny (g), Clarke, Hulse, Moen.
Booked: Derry.
Coventry City (4-4-2): Westwood; Keogh, Cranie, Wood, O’Halloran; Baker, Gunnarsson, Doyle (Clingan 67), McSheffrey (Platt 79); Eastwood (Jutkiewicz 46), King.
Subs: Ireland (g), Bell, Clarke, Cameron.
Booked: Doyle, O’Halloran.
Referee: M Haywood (West Yorkshire).
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