Ipswich Town 0 QPR 3:AN OMINOUSLY good QPR side maintained their unbeaten start to the season and put an end to Ipswich's own with a performance that bodes ill for the rest of the Championship.
The season is still in its infancy but there is much to be said for a spectacular start. The top two after six games last season? Newcastle and West Brom, both of whom went on to win automatic promotion. Rangers back then were 13th. This time around they are shaping up to be big beasts of the division.
Roy Keane may be fostering an us-against-the-world attitude but QPR were more than enough for his side to cope with in the first half. The outstanding Taarabt almost opened the scoring after 27 minutes, wriggling past challenges before testing Marton Fulop in the Town goal. Three minutes later Rangers were ahead. Crisp passing gave Jamie Mackie a sight of goal and, though his first effort was blocked by two defenders, the former Plymouth striker smashed in the loose ball.
The goal initially galvanised the home side but before the break Rangers were two up. Gareth McAuley’s shot hit Jason Scotland in the six-yard box before being smuggled away. From the resulting corner the visitors broke away, Mackie picked up the ball on halfway and glided through unchallenged before slotting past Fulop.
Keane made two substitutions at the break and the introduction of Connor Wickham lifted those on the home terraces. The 17-year-old had an immediate impact on the pitch, shrugging off Clint Hill and pulling the ball back for Carlos Edwards, who miscued his shot horribly.
Taarabt made a sulky departure on the hour that did not impress Warnock. The other players bore the brunt of his irritation but it would have been the referee had Heidar Helguson not tucked away a 67th-minute penalty. Keith Stroud awarded a dubious spot-kick for a foul on Mackie as Akos Buzsaky thundered a goal-of-the-season contender into the top corner from the loose ball. The Icelandic striker saved the referee and his manager’s blood pressure. The pressure on QPR, though, looks like being all the right kind this year.
Guardian Service
IPSWICH TOWN: Fulop, Jaime Peters, Jaime Peters, McAuley, Smith, Kennedy, Edwards (Brown 72), Norris, Hyam (Priskin 46), Leadbitter, Scotland, Townsend (Wickham 46). Subs not used: Murphy, Eastman, Healy, Hourihane. Booked: Scotland, Smith, Leadbitter.
QPR: Kenny, Walker, Gorkss, Connolly, Hill, Taarabt (Leigertwood 60), Derry, Faurlin (Buzsaky 36), Ephraim, Helguson, Mackie (Smith 80). Subs not used: Cerny, Agyemang, German, Parker. Goals: Mackie 31, 42, Helguson 68 pen. Attendance: 19,931.
Referee: Keith Stroud(Hampshire).
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