City 1 QPR 0
Report by Eddie Blount
City are within one win of securing the Championship for a record sixth time after a deserved though narrow win over pre-season title favourites, QPR. With three games to go and a lead of 7 points over second-placed, Burnley we call surely get the champagne out for a second time in recent weeks, having already secured promotion with plenty of games to spare.
City made two changes from the side that took an important point at Reading, Knockaert and King returning for Dyer and Vardy. I was pleased to see that Pearson did not repeat the disastrous mistake of playing Phillips from the start and King as a holding midfielder which saw us sunk without trace against Brighton.
King can only play as an attacking midfielder and then only when we play five in midfield. Against Brighton we played four against five and they kicked sand in our faces as you would expect from Seasiders. So we played a 4-5-1 formation which we will have to play every week in the Prem so in more ways than one this match resembled a typical premiership game between teams in the lower half of that table.
QPR did not pick their strongest team, presumably having given up on automatic promotion but nonetheless they looked a class above most of the sides we have seen this season. The burly Kranjcar in particular exuded class and produced numerous deft touches but with little end product.
Mid-way through the second half Wasilewski dumped him on the seat of his pants with an old-fashioned shoulder charge reminding me of Indiana Jones shooting the show-off, sword-twirling Arab baddie who had him cornered in Raiders of the Lost Ark. A few minutes later Harry subbed Kranjcar!
Defensively this was probably as good a performance as City have produced this season. QPR were aware that we have conceded many goals this term from set-pieces and it was ominous when they won five corners in the first quarter of the game. Fortunately City defended each of these in exemplary fashion with strong headers and some good punches from Schmeichel.
We were also successful in stopping Rangers from taking free shots from the edge of the penalty area by close marking and tight covering. QPR were equally effective at the other end so that an open game produced surprisingly little in the way of genuine chances.
It came as a big surprise when the two best, and only real chances came from poor defending. The script was written when an enormous melee developed deep in the City penalty area after a City defender twice kicked the ball out of Schmeichel's hands as it ran loose and pinged around for several seconds before being cleared.
At the other end QPR centre backs lost communication with keeper Green and King was put in the clear. He took the ball wide to Green's left but his delayed shot on target was cleared off the line by a covering defender.
In the context of a previously chance-free game this could have been an expensive missed opportunity. However we immediately returned the compliment as we gifted QPR the ball deep in our box only for the cross to be blasted wide when it seemed easier to score. That was to be the closest QPR were to come to opening their account.
The second half belonged to City who played some great one-touch, short passes but lacked a cutting edge and only rarely threatened in any significant way. However they had the better of it territorially and the reward came after 68 minutes when great interplay down their left enabled Mahrez to put Nugent in on goal at a tight angle. Showing good pace he beat the covering defender to the ball and smashed a low shot across Green into the far corner of the net.
Cue joyous scenes from all but 386 of the 27,386 crowd. I have to say that with such pitiful support QPR don't deserve the Prem and their lack of heart could in no way be compensated for by the obvious talent they have in the squad. Good players, pity about the team!
There were few stand-out points about the second half. We should have had a penalty when Mahrez was clearly tripped from behind in the box but the ref, who had a decent game overall, was clearly fed up with the ease with which Mahrez frequently went down in earlier play that he waved play on.
QPR finished with 10 men after Assou- Ekotto was sent off some 10 minutes from the end for a second bookable offence. The first booking – for a lunge at Mahrez – was justified but the second was a nothing trip that my wife would have ignored.
Finally from the cameo role played by Morrison who came on as a late sub I personally am rather glad that Harry kept him back for the play-offs. He was the only QPR player to show a real sense of urgency, the one thing they desperately lacked.
City: Schmeichel, de Laet, Morgan, Wasilewski, Schlupp (Moore 77), Hammond (James 67), Drinkwater, King, Knockaert (Dyer 68), Mahrez, Nugent
QPR: Green, Simpson, Yun, Henry, Hughes, Onuoha, Benayoun (Wright-Phillips 46), O'Neill, Maiga (Zamora 72), Kranjcar (Morrison 82), Assou – Ekotto
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation