Queens Park Rangers vs Luton Town FC (19th Nov 2021)

Report | Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Luton Town

The Hatters suffered a second successive defeat in the live Sky game at Queens Park Rangers tonight, missing out on the change to leapfrog their opponents into the Championship play-off places.

Instead it was the west Londoners who cemented their position in the top six courtesy of a goal ten minutes into each half, the first from Chris Willock and second from Charlie Austin, inflicting a third defeat in four matches on the Town.

Manager Nathan Jones had made three changes from the last game played before the international break, the 1-0 home reversal against Stoke.

Fred Onyedinma was back in the starting line-up and after serving his one-match suspension, Henri Lansbury came back into the eleven alongside Allan Campbell, who made his long-awaited return from injury in the previous match.

The third change was in defence - with Tom Lockyer returning to play next to captain Sonny Bradley as the Hatters looked to win away at QPR for the first time since 1984.

The Hatters almost made a dream start when Elijah Adebayo robbed Jimmy Dunne, but couldn't take the ball around keeper Seny Dieng. Harry Cornick looked to pounce on the follow-up, but Rob Dickie managed to get a block in, with the goal gaping.

That was in the third minute, but QPR were quick to remind Simon Sluga and his defence of their attacking threat, Ilias Chair trying his luck from 25 yards, but his right-footed drive just clearing the bar.

The ball was in the back of his net on ten minutes, however, when Rangers broke from defending a Town corner, with one ball from the edge of their own box releasing Willock, who lobbed the onrushing Croatian from just outside the other area for 1-0.

Lansbury was the first into referee Matthew Donohue's book for a foul on Chair, with his foot raised inside the Hoops box.

Town had started well in an end-to-end opening period, and after Lee Wallace had curled one wide of Sluga's left post, Cornick raced into the Rangers area and forced Dieng into a smart save at his near post, before he set Adebayo up to cut inside and fire at goal, only for Yoann Barbet to get back and block.

Onyedinma was having some joy down the other flank too, and when Kal Naismith clipped a lovely ball into the Rangers area for him to run onto, the left wing-back lifted his shot over the bar before being clattered by Dieng, well after the ball had gone.

Austin cut in from the left and fired wide of Sluga's goal on 25 minutes, then Cornick burst to the right byline once more, but his cut-back just eluded Campbell.

Despite trailing at the break, there was more than enough in the game to suggest to the Hatters that they could take something back to Bedfordshire.

Within five minutes of the restart, they might have been level, Bree delivering two perfect crosses from the right - the first a corner that Lockyer headed at goal, only for it to be cleared off the post, and the second a drilled centre that Naismith met with a firm header that hit the side netting.

Next to have a go was Onyedinma, dancing in from the left touchline at the end of a fine passing move, but hitting a right-footed shot well over the bar into the 2,452 travelling Town fans.

By the 55th minute, the hosts were 2-0 up. Bradley was harshly penalised for a foul on Willock by the corner flag, picking up a booking in the process, and Austin was there to send a header past Sluga from Rangers' second phase cross into the Town box.

Jones made his first change on 68 minutes, replacing Cornick with Admiral Muskwe as part of a front three with Adebayo and Onyedinma.

Lansbury was soon fouled 25 yards from goal, but Bree's free-kick hit the wall and Lansbury's follow-up flew well over Dieng's bar.

Austin went into the book for a foul on Onyedinma as the Hatters looked to build another attack down the right, and although Bree's outswinging free-kick caused concern in the Rangers box, Naismith couldn't get his shot off and Bradley's attempted cross for Muskwe was too strong.

Cameron Jerome was introduced in place of Campbell with just over ten minutes to go, at the same time as Rangers withdrew their second goalscorer Austin and just before they took off Albert Adomah.

But there was no way through Rangers' well-organised backline, and the hosts saw the game out to move up to fifth in the table.

Goals:

QPR - Willock 10, Austin 55

Attendance: 15,062 (2,452 Hatters)

Nathan Jones reacts to QPR defeat

Manager Nathan Jones was disappointed his side couldn’t convert their chances after suffering defeat at the hands of Queens Park Rangers this evening.

A goal in each half condemned the Hatters to a second defeat in succession but it wasn’t for a lack of effort, with Town having a number of openings throughout the 90 minutes.

“We have to show more quality,” Jones admitted. “Same as the Stoke game, we had more situations and they had one opportunity and won the game. Today they had two and won the game and that’s the way it is.

"We can do better with the first goal, there are a few errors leading to that and we have to defend that better.

“We have to defend the second better as well but the goal should never have been because it is a foul the other way (on Sonny Bradley). We have to show more quality and more composure because we’ve had so many chances tonight, 16 shots and they’ve had two on target and scored them both.

Despite failing to find the back of the net, the manager said: “I thought we were excellent at times. First half I thought we were brilliant but it is the same as last year. They had one opportunity first half and scored but we didn’t show quality and didn’t punish them. They got away with it and they got away with it again today so fair play to them because they showed more quality than us.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bhp0Yi_dOY – Nathan Jones post match interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ddFX56Wvg – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgAYjcBlfDo – Henri Lansbury interview

Luton pay the price for poor finishing as their dismal record at QPR continues

Championship: QPR 2 Luton Town 0

Luton's atrocious record at QPR continued as their winless run at the venue, now titled the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, stretched to 18 games with this defeat in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

In fairness to the Hatters, they might have got something from the game, playing their part in what was for large parts an absorbing and entertaining contest, only to concede early in each half, which combined with some awful finishing, wrecked their hopes of a first victory in almost 40 years.

Boss Nathan Jones made three changes from the 1-0 defeat at Stoke as Henri Lansbury, Tom Lockyer and Fred Onyedinma came in for Gabe Osho and Amari'i Bell, who dropped to the bench, Reece Burke missing out completely.

Town lined up with their now favoured three centre halves, Onyedinma starting in the left wingback role for the first time this term, as the visitors might have broken through twice in the opening five minutes, thanks to the pressing of Elijah Adebayo.

First he was sent away on the right, but rather than fully drive forward, tried to find Harry Cornick who was crowded out, while he charged down Jimmy Dunne's casual backpass, but couldn't lift the ball over the advancing Seny Dieng, who made a vital save, Cornick's rebound blocked.

Ilias Chair showed his obvious threat for the hosts, dancing into a shooting opportunity, as his 25-yarder was fingertipped over the bar by Simon Sluga, although a goal kick was awarded.

With Town in the ascendancy and looking the more likely, they were then undone on 10 minutes, and to make matters even more frustrating for Jones, from their own corner as well.

A hopeful ball forward released Chris Willock, but there didn't appear to be a great deal of danger on, only for Sluga, to come rashly racing off his line, caught in no man's land, giving the former Arsenal youngster the easy task of lobbing into the vacant net.

A high boot saw Lansbury, only just back from suspension, receive an early yellow card as the game continued to ebb and flow at a quite brilliant rate, with both sides looking capable of scoring.

Lee Wallace curved wide for QPR, before Cornick was left in acres of space, unable to beat Dieng at his near post, Adebayo then nutmegging his man, only to see a low drive just about blocked by a flying defender.

Midway through the half and Town went close again, Kal Naismith with a delicious dink over the top that saw Onyedinma released but he lofted over the advancing Dieng and unfortunately the bar as well.

Back came QPR, Charlie Austin breaking into the area and going for goal, dragging wide of the upright, while after a mini lull in terms of goalscoring opportunities, Adebayo's hopeful curler was easily gobbled up by Dieng.

The second half saw Town inches away from restoring parity inside the opening five minutes, Bree's corner met by Lockyer and kicked off the line, only as far as Town's right back though.

He transferred it back into the danger area, for an unmarked Naismith to see his downward header flick the side-netting on its way behind, leading to a number of the away fans behind the goal to wrongly assume he had made it 1-1.

Onyedinma cut off his flank to blaze into the stands, but just as they had in the first half, the Hatters conceded when looking like they were on top again, as Austin, who else, was able to head home from close range and double the host's advantage.

Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's ambitious attempt at pulling one back was never threatening Dieng, while Bree saw his free kick cannon into the wall, Lansbury's snapshot always rising.

Town's accuracy was a bone of contention all evening, with 16 attempts in total, but just three on target, Onyedinma lashing over, and then sub Admiral Muskwe teed up by some never-say-die pressing from Mpanzu but he also couldn't display any composure, disappointingly wide on his left foot.

Late on, Adebayo wasn't able to turn home Naismith's deep cross, while in stoppage time, Town's evening was summed up when Mpanzu was teed up on the edge of the box, but like almost every chance that had gone before him, sliced wide as the Hatters fell to their second successive defeat, missing out on the chance to jump into the play-offs ahead of tomorrow's .

Rangers: Seny Dieng, Lee Wallace, Rob Dickie, Yoann Barbet, Stefan Johansen ©, Ilias Chair (Luke Amos 89), Charlie Austin (Sam Field 74), Andre Dozzell, Jimmy Dunne, Chris Willock, Albert Adomah (Osman Kakay 75).

Subs not used: Jordan Archer, Dominic Ball, George Thomas, Stephen Duke-McKenna.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, James Bree, Tom Lockyer, Sonny Bradley, Kal Naismith, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Allan Campbell (Cameron Jerome 74), Henri Lansbury, Fred Onyedinma, Harry Cornick (Admiral Muskwe 68), Elijah Adebayo.

Subs not used: James Shea, Danny Hylton, Jordan Clark, Amari'i Bell, Gabe Osho.

Bookings: Lansbury 12, Bradley 56, Adebayo 58, Dozzell 60, Dickie 90.

Referee: Matthew Donohue.

Attendance: 15,602 (2,452 Luton).

Jones frustrated by a lack of quality as wasteful Town are beaten by clinical Rangers

Luton fall to defeat in front of the Sky cameras

Luton boss Nathan Jones bemoaned his side’s lack of quality in the final third after they went down to a 2-0 defeat at QPR this evening.

The Hatters unloaded 16 shots during the 90 minutes at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, but only three of them were at Seny Dieng’s goal, while the hosts had half the attempts, with two on target, but both ended up in Simon Sluga’s net.

Speaking afterwards, Jones said: “That’s the Championship, but we have to show a bit more quality.

"It's the same as the Stoke game, Stoke had one opportunity, scored and won the game.

"They (QPR) had two and won the game, that’s just clinical, that’s how it is.

"We can do better with the first goal, a few errors leading up to the first goal, if I’m honest and we’ve got to defend that better.

"We’ve got to defend the second one better, but the second one should never have been as it was a foul the other way.

"There’s a few things there, but we've got to show more quality, more composure, as we’ve had so many opportunities tonight.

"We’ve had 16 shots, and they’ve had two on target and scored.

"We’ve had opportunities, Kal’s (Naismith) had a header from three, four yards, and that’s the frustrating thing, as performance levels, I thought we were excellent at times.

"In the first half I thought we were brilliant, a bit like last year (3-1 defeat), they had one opportunity in the first half and scored.

"We had so many opportunities, didn’t show the quality and didn’t punish them.

"They got away with that and got away with that again tonight and fair play to them as they showed more quality than us.”

On what the Hatters could have done better in front of goal, Jones added: “It’s not for want of trying and want of work as the stuff we do, we do final third work, we put them in positions, specific work where they get in those positions.

"They get shots, they hit the target, they score, it’s constant.

"We break away, we get down the right hand side a few times, we just delay a little bit, don’t pull the trigger, don’t really show that zest, don’t quite pick people out and when we do pick people out they miss the chance.

"We’ve had real good opportunities tonight, it's not like they've been half chances.

"We’ve had opportunities that if the shoe had been on the other foot, they would have scored far more and that’s the frustrating thing.”

Hatters** chief rues the manner in which Luton are breached twice by QPR in Friday night defeat**

Jones annoyed by timings of hosts' goals at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium

Hatters boss Nathan Jones was left to rue the manner in which Town were breached twice during their 2-0 defeat at QPR last night.

The visitors had started on the front foot, looking a real threat and going close through Elijah Adebayo and Harry Cornick, before falling 1-0 down on 10 minutes with a breakaway goal from their own corner.

One long ball by Ilias Chair sent Chris Willock away, who despite being monitored by Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and Allan Campbell, was able to reach the pass and then with Simon Sluga rashly opting to charge off his line, could simply loft the ball over the out of position Croatian and into the net.

Jones said: “The goalkeeper’s decision to come was the wrong one, but we get it in, Chair leaves Fred (Onyedinma), we win the header and put it back to Chair.

"Chair then hits one long ball that we’ve got two v one and he scores it, it shouldn’t happen.

"It should be the other way round, Pelly marking and Allan in front but that’s the thing, if you don't do things right and don’t listen, that's how you get exposed at this level.

"We'd have got away with it in League One as we would have had a bit more power, a bit more pace, but you can't at this level.

"The frustrating thing is if we kept a clean sheet, I would have been really, really frustrated tonight, as I thought we were excellent at times.

"We really did move the ball well, we pressed well and we created enough to have got something out of the game, it’s just didn't show the desired amount of quality to win a Championship football game.”

Jones wasn’t too happy with the second R's strike either which came shortly after half time from a free kick on the right hand side, awarded for a foul by captain Sonny Bradley on Willock.

The Town skipper was cautioned for showing his displeasure at the decision, and although Luton looked to have initially cleared the danger from the set-piece, it was recycled out wide for Willock's cross to be nodded back by Jimmy Dunne for an unmarked Charlie Austin to make it 2-0.

It means that the former West Bromwich Albion and Southampton forward has now netted in his last three outings against the Hatters, as Jones continued: “Willock’s fouled Bradley, it’s clear.

"The linesman saw it the other way, but I think everyone who's actually seen it, saw it differently.

"But we’ve still got to defend, we win the first header, head it out, we don’t stop the cross, then we allow them to get between us and we don’t mark in the box, they head it back and Charlie Austin’s there.

"Charlie Austin doesn't score, apart from against us, he’s scored in the last three games now and we’ve resurrected his career something terrible.

"But that’s just the quality and we’ve got to be better because if we keep clean sheets we can come here and say we still missed chances, but it’s a good away performances.

"For 80 per cent of the time, it's an excellent away performance but we lost the game and that’s the only statistic everyone wants to know.”

The timings of the goals also frustrated Jones as both came just 10 minutes into either half, arriving when the Hatters were on top of the game as well, carrying the greater threat.

Austin's header on 55 sucked the life out of Town's home of a comeback, as the Town boss added: "Goals change games and we haven’t got to 10 minutes without conceding, that can’t happen.

"It’s come out of nothing, we’re on the front foot, we’re playing really well, it’s our corner, we whip the ball in, we win the header, but we’ve headed it straight to Chair and then they’ve broke and one ball they’ve scored.

"It’s out of absolutely nothing and it does knock the stuffing out of you, then we showed real good character and good quality and should have gone in at least level at half time.

"They’ve had one other opportunity, Chair’s hit it over the bar when he’s cut inside, then second half we’ve come out and were front foot again.

"Then they get a free kick out of nothing and they score from it, but those moments, we’ve got to be better in as you can’t concede in just the two moments that they have.

"If you do that then you‘re not going to win games, but this is the level, the Premier League’s even more and the Championship is brutal.

"We’ve done enough to get something from the game, performance levels, we’ll analyse it and we’re thinking, 'how have we lost that?'

"But Stoke, we didn't play well first half, second half, we penned Stoke in, they had as little as chances as they’ve ever had this season.

"So it shows there’s a real good side in there, but all that has to come together.”