QPR v Aston Villa: Premier League — as it happened

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2014/oct/27/qpr-v-aston-villa-premier-league-live

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9.51pm GMT21:51

FULL TIME: QPR 2-0 Aston Villa

And that’s that. A well-deserved win for QPR, who were as solid and impressive as Villa were lame and abject. Charlie Austin is the two-goal hero, but that’s a fine team performance. After their good but unrewarded display against Liverpool, there’s a sense that Rangers might just have stumbled onto a formula. They move off the bottom of the table, and are now just three points behind plummeting Villa, who have lost five on the bounce now without scoring once. Pity their poor players, who have to look Paul Lambert and Roy Keane in the eye after that.

Updated at 9.52pm GMT

9.49pm GMT21:49

90 min +2: Fer is replaced by Kranjcar. Traore has a whack from the edge of the area, but it’s blocked by Lowton.

9.48pm GMT21:48

90 min +1: Lowton rakes a lovely pass down the right wing, and Benteke’s got ahead of Caulker. However, Green is out to the edge of his box to claim, just in time.

9.47pm GMT21:47

90 min: Clark tugs away at Traore’s shirt. A free kick for QPR near the corner flag down the right, and an excuse for the home side to run down the clock. Which they snatch with both hands. There’s going to be three added minutes.

9.46pm GMT21:46

89 min: Benteke tries to lob Green from 40 yards. Nope. A goal now for Villa would certainly shake things up, but their performance doesn’t merit one.

9.45pm GMT21:45

88 min: Benteke scuttles down the right and wins a corner off Caulker. It’s easily cleared, but lumped straight back. For a second, it looks like Clark is free down the inside-left, but he’s flagged offside and miscontrols anyway.

9.44pm GMT21:44

87 min: Vargas is replaced by Traore.

9.42pm GMT21:42

85 min: QPR are in complete control. Villa are a study in frustration.

9.40pm GMT21:40

82 min: Cole has been in the thick of it since coming on, but his effort is counting for little. He tries to scoop a pass down the middle for Benteke, but it’s deflected into Harmlessville the moment it leaves his boot.

9.38pm GMT21:38

80 min: It’s not Villa’s night. Benteke can’t quite meet a Cole corner from the right, six yards out. Then Cleverley unleashes a fine fizzer goalwards from the edge of the box. Green parries well, but the ball rebounds to Clark, who surely must poke home the loose ball from close range. But Sandro is right on his shoulder, and puts him off to the extent that Green can snaffle. The closest a poor Villa side have come tonight.

9.36pm GMT21:36

78 min: Villa are seriously rocking. Sandro’s long-range daisycutter is deflected into the path of Vargas, who is clear in the area again but can’t quite stop the ball from pinballing between his legs. Austin tries to snatch a hat-trick goal, but can’t connect either.

9.35pm GMT21:35

77 min: Lowton follows Weimann into the referee’s notebook, having upended an in-full-flight Hoilett.

9.34pm GMT21:34

76 min: Rangers are pinging it around in pretty triangles. The crowd respond as you’d imagine. Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé! And there’s an end product to all this fancy footwork, too, as Fer drifts in from the left wing and slips a pass down the channel to release Vargas into the area! Vargas should score but, one on one with Guzan, batters his shot straight into the keeper’s midriff. That should have been the end of it.

9.31pm GMT21:31

74 min: QPR sprung to life rather impressively there, having let Villa pass themselves asleep during the first 20 minutes of the half. This has been a dismal display by Villa, and their mood won’t be lifted by Benteke and existentialism’s Joe Cole clattering into each other while attempting to head Lowton’s cross from the right. Slapstick stylings.

9.28pm GMT21:28

70 min: Villa respond by making a double change, hooking Westwood and Weimann, and sending on Cole and Bent.

9.27pm GMT21:27

GOAL! QPR 2-0 Aston Villa (Austin 68)

Something else happens quickly after - and this could have sealed the three points for Rangers! It’s another beautifully simple goal. Sanchez gives the ball away again, allowing Vargas to tear clear down the right. He whips a low ball to the near post, where Austin races in and slams into the bottom-right corner from six yards!

9.25pm GMT21:25

67 min: SOMETHING HAPPENS! Fer, in plenty of space in the middle of the Villa half, having robbed Sanchez, sprays a lovely ball out to the left wing for Hoilett. Hoilett glides inside, and curls a gorgeous effort towards the top-right corner. It looks like it’s heading in, with Guzan beaten all ends up, but the ball drifts to the right and clips the right-hand upright. So unlucky!

9.23pm GMT21:23

66 min: Agbonlahor, Cleverley and Cissokho are all putting in a shift down the Villa left, but their graft is counting for little. QPR aren’t seeing a whole lot of the ball, and yet look extremely comfortable right now.

9.20pm GMT21:20

63 min: Hoilett comes on for the spent Zamora.

9.19pm GMT21:19

62 min: This is scrappy nonsense right now. QPR won’t complain so long as the scoreline remains as it is.

9.17pm GMT21:17

59 min: Magnificent goalkeeping by Green, who is put into all sorts of bother by a ridiculous looping backpass from Sandro. With Benteke lurking, Green chests down the dropping ball and lashes it clear with a confident swing of the leg. That could easily have caused the poor keeper embarrassment, through no fault of his own. A superlative clearance.

9.16pm GMT21:16

58 min: Weimann is booked for a clip on Yun’s ankles.

9.15pm GMT21:15

57 min: The Villa fans are trying their best to raise their team’s spirits, but their brave efforts aren’t doing much good. The visitors have had 70 percent of the possession since the restart, but are doing very little with it. A ball’s lifted down the centre, but Benteke is miles offside.

9.13pm GMT21:13

54 min: Villa haven’t scored since Agbonlahor bundled in the winner at Anfield, a long time ago now. They don’t look like doing much to break that sorry run tonight. Westwood hoicks a free kick into the QPR area for Benteke, who heads down by the right-hand post. Clark is sniffing around but can’t connect.

9.10pm GMT21:10

51 min: Zamora scoops a clever ball down the inside-left channel and into the area towards Vargas, who heads further on with a view to finding Austin. The ball clanks off Cissokho and clear, but QPR rather vociferously claim handball, and a penalty. The referee’s not having it, and quite correctly too, as the ball clearly brushed Cissokho’s left nipple. That could chafe, I hope he’s got a vest on underneath.

9.07pm GMT21:07

49 min: Agbonlahor and Cleverley busy themselves down the left, before feeding Cissokho, who blooters a cross behind the goal. This is quite mundane. Nobody’s turned up for the second half yet.

9.04pm GMT21:04

47 min: A bitty start to the half.

9.03pm GMT21:03

And we’re off again! Weimann is good to continue, and neither team has made any changes. Villa set the ball rolling for the second half. “A more apt name for said commission (42 min) would be The Warnock Commission,” suggests Brad Lundgren.

8.56pm GMT20:56

Half-time tactical analysis: They’re going into far too much detail on Sky Sports. Suffice to say Charlie Austin scored a fine route-one goal, registering nine-and-a-half on the Reep-o-meter®.

8.48pm GMT20:48

HALF TIME: QPR 1-0 Aston Villa

Vargas very nearly latches onto a loose ball in the middle of the park, but he’s denied a free run at the Villa box by Clark. And that’s that for a half which was neither great nor awful. Rangers will be happy with their performance as well as the scoreline, while Villa need to up their game.

8.44pm GMT20:44

44 min: This half is petering out. Both teams seem happy to let the clock do its thing.

8.44pm GMT20:44

42 min: Weimann is limping still. Villa are clearly waiting for the half-time whistle before making a decision here. “I’m surprised no Chelsea conspiracy theorists have yet emailed to demand a Carragher Commission into the non-penalty incident from yesterday,” quips Justin Kavanagh. “Two men brutally scythed down, a strong suspicion of more than one assassin, and yet no credible whistleblower stepping forward. A nation wept.”

Updated at 8.49pm GMT

8.39pm GMT20:39

39 min: Weimann looks to lash a shot goalwards from 20 yards. Fer blocks, and the ball loops to Benteke on the left-hand edge of the box. Benteke takes a touch and sends a weak effort straight at Green. Weimann felt that challenge from Fer and is limping around quite a lot.

8.38pm GMT20:38

36 min: Lowton sends a sliderule pass along the right flank to release Weimann into space. Weimann crosses low first time, and Green comes off his line with Benteke lurking and Caulker suddenly thinking about the Liverpool game quite a lot. Green claims. No goal, no own goal. Another defensive calamity would surely be too cruel for QPR.

8.36pm GMT20:36

35 min: Sandro, down the right, nearly finds the top-left corner of the Villa net with an absurd looper. It flies over the bar, which is probably the fairest outcome.

8.34pm GMT20:34

34 min: Cleverley helps the ball down the left for Cissokho, who wheechs a low ball into the QPR box. It deflects back to the right-hand edge of the D, where Westwood attempts to curl a first-time shot into the bottom-left. It’s blocked by Henry.

8.33pm GMT20:33

32 min: Sandro earns himself a free kick down the right. QPR have a set piece in a dangerous position, 35 yards from goal. Guzan punches Yun’s set piece clear, but Zamora’s soon powering into the Villa box down the left channel. He’s just about bundled off the ball by Vlaar and Lowton, and Guzan eventually comes out to smother, but the away defence looked pretty tatty there.

8.31pm GMT20:31

31 min: Another left-wing cross from Cissokho. Weimann, despite having both feet planted by the penalty spot, gets his head to the ball and sends a lame effort to the right-hand side of the goal. Green ambles over to gather. “Lovely picture of the Rs from 1970,” begins Ian Burch. “My QPR supporting brother took me to Loftus Rd for my first ever game that season and we saw Rodney Marsh score a hat-trick in a 5-2 romp against Birmingham. Football has changed beyond all recognition since those innocent days, but nothing much would appear to have changed for poor old Birmingham.”

8.29pm GMT20:29

28 min: Cleverley whips a ball to the left wing for Cissokho, who lifts a first-time cross into the area. Benteke was snoozing a little there, and misses the ball with QPR all over the shop.

8.25pm GMT20:25

25 min: Villa aren’t dealing with simple balls up the centre of the park. Clark is in all sorts of bother under a hoof near his own D. Zamora very nearly finds himself clear in the area, but can’t locate the dropping ball, spinning around in circles like a teased dog. QPR have their tails up.

8.23pm GMT20:23

23 min: Brilliance from Dunne here, though, up the other end, as he blocks Benteke’s shot as the Villa striker cuts in from the left. It’s a nice, open, entertaining game, with plenty of action at both ends.

8.22pm GMT20:22

22 min: Yun larrups one from distance. It’s heading wide of the left-hand post, but Guzan rather clumsily tips it round anyway, for a corner. The set piece is sent long, and met by Dunne at the far post. But he’s trying to put the ball in the other team’s net here, and that’s not quite so easy, is it.

8.21pm GMT20:21

21 min: Westwood lifts a ball down the inside-right channel. Benteke rises on the edge of the Rangers box, and uses the pace of the ball to guide a header towards the bottom left. It’s a clever flick, but just wide of the left-hand post with Green scrambling.

8.20pm GMT20:20

19 min: Villa will need to take heart from the fact that Austin’s goal came against the run of play. They stroke it around the middle of the park awhile. Sandro puts a stop to their progressive pretensions by clattering into the back of Agbonlahor. He’s lucky to avoid a booking.

8.18pm GMT20:18

GOAL! QPR 1-0 Aston Villa (Austin 17)

A simple goal. Zamora, on the edge of the Villa box, rises above Vlaar and heads down for Austin, who creams a full-fat half-volley into the bottom-left corner. Guzan had no chance, that was so sweetly struck. Loftus Road erupts! But as sweet as the shot was, that wasn’t particularly clever from Villa’s point of view, as they failed to deal with a route-one set-up. Paul Lambert and Roy Keane erupt!

8.16pm GMT20:16

15 min: Villa are on top here. Sanchez has a whack from 20 yards, Green doing well to snaffle a shot that’s swerving this way and that. Then Benteke heads on for himself down the left channel, breaking clear into the area and blasting a dismal effort over the bar from ten yards. He’ll no doubt claim to have heard the referee’s whistle before mishitting that - he was a mile offside - but you have to wonder.

8.14pm GMT20:14

13 min: Weimann heads a poor Dunne clearance back down the pitch to Agbonlahor, who turns down the inside-right channel and embarks on a diagonal run to the left-hand side of the D. He tries to get a shot away, but it’s blocked by Caulker, who comes across to deal with the danger.

8.12pm GMT20:12

11 min: Yun tries to make amends with a progressive meander down the left. His cross goes straight down the throat of Guzan. After their brisk start, Rangers haven’t offered much in the way of attack.

8.10pm GMT20:10

10 min: Yun clumsily gives away a corner down the Villa right. No need for it! Westwood takes. QPR clear but, in something of a panic, Austin slices into the stand under no pressure. He’s not putting his team in danger, as such, but this sort of nonsense keeps Villa on the front foot.

8.08pm GMT20:08

8 min: More space for Benteke down the left. He breaks clear into the area, but is penalised for a needless shove on Henry. Had Benteke put his head down and skittered towards the area with determination, he could have caused some problems there, though admittedly the same approach to playing never did Milan Baros many favours.

8.07pm GMT20:07

6 min: Sandro gives the ball away to Agbonlahor in the centre circle, a dreadful pass. Benteke is fed down the inside-left channel, where he wins a corner. From which Westwood whips a glorious ball into the mixer, nearly finding Benteke’s head. Green is out to punch clear, albeit not in a particularly powerful style. Still, it did the job.

8.04pm GMT20:04

3 min: Villa stroke it around the back awhile in an attempt to quell QPR’s early verve. Weimann bursts down the right and crosses deep. Benteke, at the far post, heads down and back to the edge of the area, where Westwood cracks a rising shot straight at Green. A decent move, that.

8.02pm GMT20:02

And we’re off! QPR get the ball rolling. And they’re on the attack immediately, with Austin flinging a ball into the area from the right, then Yun lumping one on from the left. Sanchez is forced to hoick the ball behind for a corner on the right; it’s dealt with easily enough. But a fine start for the home side. “Listening to Jamie Carragher analysing the Man United goal from yesterday’s game on Sky’s pre-match programme,” writes Simon McMahon. “He’s gone through it frame by frame. All he needs now is to say ‘back, and to the left’ a few times and he’ll have solved the JFK assassination while he’s at it.” You might be on to something here; the top of Marouane Fellaini’s head does look like a grassy knoll.

7.57pm GMT19:57

The teams are out! QPR sport their famous hoops ...

... while Villa are bedecked in Victorian claret-and-blue splendour.

We’ll be on our way in a couple of minutes! Meantime, here’s a little pre-match existentialism, courtesy of Elliot Carr-Barnsley: “Imagine having Villa’s bench five years ago. If any parent wants to explain to their kids that life is depressing and fleeting, they just need to stick that team sheet on the fridge.” Don’t forget to arrange the funny poetry magnets so they read “WE ALL DIE ALONE”. That should wake the little blighters up as they get their cornflakes and milk at breakfast, just in case Joe Cole’s pitiful career trajectory hasn’t already put the wind up them.

7.13pm GMT19:13

The teams are in!

QPR: Green, Isla, Dunne, Caulker, Yun, Vargas, Henry, Sandro, Fer, Zamora, Austin.Subs: Traore, Hill, Phillips, Kranjcar, Murphy, Hoilett, Ferdinand.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Cissokho, Cleverley, Westwood, Sanchez, Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann.Subs: Okore, Bacuna, Cole, Richardson, Bent, N’Zogbia, Given.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)

7.00pm GMT19:00

It’s fair to say tonight’s entertainment isn’t a race between two form horses. Queens Park Rangers have lost four of their last five matches, and are currently bottom of the table, somehow below a Burnley side who haven’t won in their last ten. Aston Villa meanwhile have lost their last four on the bounce, conceding 11 goals and scoring none. It’s not the easiest sell in the world, this.

But entertainment need not be a forlorn hope. QPR were excellent in their last match, a surreal 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool in which their new approach of Trying Hard so nearly paid dividends. They’ll play much, much worse this season yet win. Aston Villa, on the other hand, weren’t very good in their last match, a 3-0 reverse at Everton, or the one before it against Manchester City, or the one before that against Chelsea, or the one before that against Arsenal. Yet the Premier League doesn’t throw up many harder runs. Those four losses aren’t ideal, but they’re certainly understandable. It’s easy to forget that Villa were top of the table after winning three of their first four games.

QPR will see an out-of-form Villa as their chance to escape the Premier League basement. Villa will see an out-of-form QPR as their chance to rediscover that early-season groove. It’s on!

Kick off: 8pm.