QPR Falls to West Brom; Survival Chances Take a Hit

Queens Park Ranger’s odds for Premier League survival got a lot longer today, as the Rs fell to West Brom 1-0.  QPR created a few chances, but missed a couple of good opportunities and were toppled by a first-half strike from Graham Dorrans.

Hodgson’s reaction:

In the early stages, QPP looked livelier, controlling the middle of the field and getting Taarabt and Bobby Zamora forward.  But WBA ‘keeper Ben Foster was up to the task on a 1-v-1 against Zamora, and a few other attacks fizzled out.  It was in the 22nd minute when Dorrans struck a powerful shot from at least 25 yards out that wriggled past Paddy Kenny, and West Brom was happy to play defensively from that point on.

Taarabt and Joey Barton had chances that they missed, but Bobby Zamora was the chief squanderer of the day – twice he had a very make-able shot that he sent wide, in addition to his early opportunity that he put right into Foster’s path.  Bobby has had some nice goals for us, but if he’d had a better touch today, we would have picked up a point.  Most of our losses this season have come from lackluster midfield play; today, we won a lot of the 50-50 balls and created several good chances, we just couldn’t finish when we really needed to.

If there was any good news, it’s that Blackburn also lost (going down 3-0 to Swansea).  So at least we’re not back in the relegation zone as of yet.  But this was a match we really needed at least a point from, with several difficult matches coming up.  We have Spurs and Chelsea coming up, and we need to take at least a point from those if we are to even have a shot.  Right now, our biggest concern is Wigan vs. Arsenal on Monday.  After that’s over, check back for an updated look at the standings and a preview of next week.

Category: QPR Team News