Well, that was one to forget. Queens Park Rangers were tonked this afternoon n3-0 at the MKM Stadium by promotion-chasing Hull, the first time we’ve conceded three goals in a game since Martí Cifuentes took over. The improvement in our defence that’s been the manager’s most noticeable achievement was nowhere to be seen, with the Tigers opening us up again and again and Asmir Begovic offering little between the sticks. We actually created some decent chances at the other end in the second half, but weren’t able to convert any of them, with Paul Smyth missing a sitter in the 47th minute. It reminded me of watching QPR under Gareth Ainsworth, which is not something I ever wanted to be reminded of.
Going into this game, we were the only team in the division to be unbeaten in the last five away games. Hull, meanwhile, hadn’t won in their last six at the MKM. We needed the points, too, since Plymouth beat Leicester yesterday and Blackburn beat Leeds earlier today, meaning we’d dropped from 16th to 18th. Having only picked up one point from a possible six playing two of our relegation rivals last week – Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and Plymouth on Tuesday – we now needed to pick up points in our remaining matches, even though they’re all against top-half teams. It’s beginning to feel like it will come down to the wire with the R’s needing at least a point in our last match of the season (away to Coventry).
The best part of the afternoon was lunch beforehand at a nice Greek restaurant called Nostalgia with my friend Roger Watson and his grandson Jack, both Daily Sceptic contributors, as well as other members of Roger’s family (see above). Fifteen year-old Jack has a Substack about supporting Hull called 10 Foot Tigers and it’s a safe bet he’s had more fun writing it this season than I have writing this. The Tigers are still play-off contenders and their manager, Liam Rosenior, has been nominated for EFL Championship Manager of the Season.
Cifuentes made two changes to the starting XI he fielded against Plymouth, replacing Kenneth Paal with Jake Clarke-Salter and Paul Smyth with Chris Willock. That meant we lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Begovic in goal; Jimmy Dunne, Steve Cook, Clarke-Salter and Morgan Fox in the back line; Isaac Hayden and Sam Field in front of them; Willock, Ilias Chair and Lucas Andersen as the attacking trio; and Lyndon Dykes leading the line.
Picking Dykes as our striker is becoming increasingly hard to justify, given how little he’s offered in front of goal recently. One devastating stat that’s been doing the rounds about this week is that he’s scored the same number of away goals in the last two seasons as Seny Dieng, and not only is Seny a goalkeeper but he left at the end of last season. So that’s one goal for the Scotstralian in 52 away games going into this one. If Michy Frey was fit, surely Cifuentes would pick him ahead of Dykes.
Our best effort in the first half came within the first 30 seconds, with Fox trying to catch the Tigers’ keeper off guard with a long-range strike that needed saving. We had another half-chance in the 5th minute, when Andersen took a free kick from just outside the box. He put the ball wide of the left-hand post, but it wasn’t a million miles away.
We had the best of the opening period of the game, but the hosts scored against the run of play in the 8th minute with a great strike from Ozan Tufan, who curled it into the top right-hand corner. At that point I was still relatively optimistic and put down £10 on QPR to win, but the truth is we rarely recover from going one-nil down and today was no exception. Hull ran riot after the early goal, unleashing wave after wave of attacks, with the visitors barely clinging on at times. They scored again in the 27th minute, with Fabio Carvalho taking the honours this time. Bego couldn’t have done much to stop the first goal, but he came off his line too early for the second, enabling Carvalho to stroke the ball past him. God help us, we were two-nil down in the first 30 minutes. We weren’t coming back from this.
We recovered a little in the last quarter-of-an-hour, although never looked like scoring, and it remained 2-0 at the break. To add to our woes, both Birmingham and Millwall were winning at half time, plunging us to 19th, with three points separating us from the drop zone. But things were about to get worse.
Cifuentes made two changes at the beginning of the second half, bringing on Smyth for Andersen, who’d barely been able to complete a pass, and replacing Dunne with Reggie Cannon (who had a good game). That made a difference, with Chair putting in a great cross for an onrushing Smyth in the 47th minute, only for the Northern Irish international to miss the goal looming in front of him. As Charlie said to me afterwards, that was our chance to get back in it.
The Tigers scored again in the 52nd minute, with Jaden Philogene netting from the centre of the box after a free kick. It was now three-nil with at least another 40 minutes to go. How many more would we concede? It was gut-wrenching, and not just because we wouldn’t be taking home any points. Our survival at the end of the season may come down to goal difference.
The hosts took their foot off the gas after that and we managed to create some chances, but kept squandering them, as is our wont. Smyth got in behind in the 59th minute, but instead of getting a quick shot off, he laboriously took it round the keeper and by the time he pulled the trigger there were two defenders on the goal line, making for an easy clearance. Dykes unexpectedly found himself with the ball at his feet in front of goal in the 61st minute, following a mistake from a defender, but seemed paralysed by indecision and then passed it straight back to the hosts. It was embarrassing even by Dykes’s standards and when he was replaced with Sinclair Armstrong in the 84th minute a few boos rang out in the away end.
Towards the end of the game, the news came in that Millwall and Birmingham had won their games and Huddersfield were beating Bristol City 0-1, which would have reduced our cushion to just two points. But the Robins got a penalty in the 101st minute and Naki Wells equalised. That was the one bit of relief in an otherwise dismal afternoon of football.
At the end of the game we were where we were at half time – 19th in the table and three points above the drop. That means if we beat Preston North End at home next Saturday, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday – both still in the relegation zone – will need at least two wins and a draw in their remaining games to catch us. (We’re beating them on goal difference, even after today.) But that’s a big if, given that Preston are 10th and we’ve only won five at home this season. I fear the worst.
You can watch the highlights on Sky Sports here.