Preston North End 1-2 QPR

Match Report

Another away win missed! We didn’t go to Deepdale because the train fares were so high. Having checked earlier this week, I discovered it would cost over £500 on fares alone for my three sons and me to go – and that’s with all of us having railcards. Presumably, it’s because of all the people heading out of London for the Bank Holiday weekend. So, we decided it wasn’t worth it and opted to watch it on Sky instead. I now wished we’d gone, of course. What a second-half performance and to snatch the winner in the 94th minute was glorious. The only shadow cast over the afternoon was Koki Saito being stretchered off with an injured shoulder in the 41st minute. I hope that isn’t the last time we see the Japanese wide man in a QPR shirt.

Martí Cifuentes opted for exactly the same starting line-up as he did against Bristol City last Saturday. That meant we lined up in 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Paul Nardi in goal; Jimmy Dunne, Ronnie Edwards, Liam Morrison and Harrison Ashby in the back line; Jack Colback and Jonathan Varane in defensive midfield; Karamoko Dembélé, Nicolas Madsen and Saito as the attacking trio; and Yang Min-hyeok leading the line.

Going in to this, we’d lost one, drawn two and won one, whereas they’d lost two, drawn two and won one – so not much between the teams. Nevertheless, we had the better of the opening exchanges, with Jimmy Dunne connecting with Madsen’s free kick in the first 90 seconds and drawing a spectacular, fingertip save from David Cornell, the Lilywhites keeper. We had another great chance in the 12th minute, when Saito beat his man out left and put in a nicely weighted ball for Yang, who then tried to steer it between Cornell’s legs, but without success. Yang struck again six minutes later, this time assisted by Madsen, but missed to the right. Yang squandered yet another chance in the 41st minute and was generally less effective here than he had been against Bristol City.

The home side almost scored themselves in the 28th minute, thanks to a great kick from Cornell, which released a runner out on the right. It was only thanks to a fantastic, last-minute tackle from Ashby that the Preston attacker didn’t end up one-on-one with Nardi. Cornell’s distribution, particularly his kicking, was top notch, something the Frenchman needs to work on.

In spite of the centre back pairing of Edwards and Morrison, we didn’t look great at defending set pieces and kept gifting the Lilywhites free headers in the box – and that’s where their goal came from in the 50th minute, with Liam Lindsay nodding in a cross from Robert Brady.

The reason so many minutes was added to the first half is because of the medical attention Saito received, having fallen awkwardly in the 34th minute. He was sitting up and clutching his right shoulder and looked in considerable discomfort – and it must have been serious because one medic after another was summoned on to the pitch, with a stretcher eventually being called for. I really like Saito and I hope he isn’t out for long, but even if it’s just for the next three that could be the last time we see him in blue-and-white hoops. We got him on loan from Belgian side Lommel SK last summer and his contract with them is about to expire, so there’s a chance we could sign him on a free transfer. But when I spoke to Chairman Lee Hoos about this on the Tiger Walk a couple of weeks ago, he thought it more likely we’d extend Yang’s loan for another season than sign Saito on a permanent.

We looked a weaker side when Rayan Kolli came on for the Japanese winger for the final 10 minutes of the half, with the Algerian playing as a striker and Yang moving out to replace Saito on the left, and the goal from Preston meant we went in one-nil down. That called for decisive action from Martí and he took it, replacing a misfiring Dembélé with Paul Smyth at the start of the second half. That immediately gave us a little more attacking threat, buttressed by a clear instruction from the manager to the fullbacks and midfielders to get forward more. We looked much more like the fluid, attacking side we’d been for the first 25 minutes against Bristol and had 10 shots, three of them on target. You get the impression that this is how Cifuentes has wanted us to play all season – this is Martí-ball – but has only now got the right players in the right positions to make it work. When the side starts to sing like this, it makes a strong argument for keeping the manager.

Kolli wasn’t able to finish in this game, just as he wasn’t in the last, although he only had a couple of half chances. Smyth found Kolli in the box in the 49th minute, having held on to it for too long, and Kolli tried to pivot and stick it in the right-hand corner, only to put it wide. He should have left it for Varane.

Cifuentes replaced Yang with Kenneth Paal, back from injury, in the 66th minute, moving Ashby out to the right in midfield. But it wasn’t until eight minutes later, when the manager substituted Ashby and Madsen for Lucas Andersen and Michy Frey, also back from injury, that the engine really started to purr. Within minute of coming on, Frey got his first chance of the game and took it brilliantly, turning and shooting so powerfully that Cornell couldn’t keep it out in spite of getting a glove to it.

As soon as we scored and with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, I told Charlie the final result would be 1-1, but I was wrong. We continued to attack, dominating for the remainder of the game, and it paid off in 90+4, when Andersen intercepted a poor clearance from a Preston defender. The Dane was outside the box and I actually cried out: “Don’t shoot!” I didn’t want him to waste what could be our last opportunity of the game. He raised his arm, as if he was intending to cross it into the box, and Frey and others began readying themselves. But then he changed his mind and struck beautifully, with the ball corkscrewing its way into the top left-hand corner. What a way to win the game! Andersen hasn’t been as good for us this season as he was the last, but he’s been improving in recent outings and this was the capper. I wish I’d been there to see his knee slide in front of the visiting fans.

This was a fantastic second half performance, coming back from a one-goal deficit to win the game 1-2. We’re now in 14th place with 53 points – which means we’re 100% safe, with 10 points separating us from third-from-bottom Luton and only three games left. For Martí, the aim must be to beat our 56-point total from last season – which won’t be easy. Next up we’ve got 11th place Swansea at home on Easter Monday, and they’ve hit a rich vein of form lately, winning four of their last five. After that, it’s Burnley at home and then Sunderland away for the last game of the season. Even if we continue to play as well as we did in the second half today, have we got enough to beat any of those teams? We drew nil-nil to Burnley at Turf Moor last October, so a point against them at Loftus Road may be possible. As for the other two, we can but hope.

You can watch the highlights on Sky here.