Ten men QPR beat Royals

The Royals were easily beaten by ten men QPR, despite a stunning goal from Shane Long. Adel Taarabt gave the home side the lead before Bradley Orr was sent off, but we could not make the most of the man advantage and Alejandro Faurlin doubled the lead. Long replied with a 25 yard screamer, his first from open play this season, but Tommy Smith sealed the win and put Rangers back on top of the Championship table.

After the 4-3 win over Doncaster last weekend there were calls for Simon Church and Noel Hunt to come into the starting line up but Brian McDermott opted to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation and Long leading the line just days after signing a new contract at the club.

The home side dominated the first period and after just ten minutes they should have been ahead when Faurlin saw his effort crash off the underside of the cross bar and it fell kindly to Rob Hulse but he somehow could not convert and Andy Griffin cleared the danger.

They did take the lead though following good work from Taarabt who managed to jink past two players on the by line before Brian Howard put in a needless sliding challenge and brought the former Spurs man crashing to the ground. He got up himself and converted a cheeky spot kick, dinking the ball over the diving Adam Federici.

Before the break Hal Robson Kanu jinked down the left and was brought down by a poor tackle from Bradley Orr. It didn`t look like a straight red but referee Steve Tanner was quick to dismiss the right back leaving Neil Warnock`s side with ten men for the whole of the second period.

We could not make the most of that man advantage though and just after the hour it was 2-0. Matt Mills did well to deny Hulse following a good ball through from the enigmatic Taarabt but the ball fell kindly for Faurlin who smashed home with the aid of a deflection of a Royals defender.

With the game seemingly drifting away from the Royals, Long picked the ball up on the left hand side and drifted away from his marker before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the top corner of the net. It looked as though we had a chance to get back in the game but all that hope was dashed not long after.

Taarabt curled a wonderful free kick towards goal that Federici did really well to keep out but the ball fell kindly to Tommy Smith who slid the ball home from a tight angle. That effectively killed the game.

We wasted two late opportunities to make it an interesting finish, firstly through sub Simon Church who shot over and then Howard forced Paddy Kenny into a good save but it was not to be for the Royals.