After initially going one-nil up against the Canaries, QPR then let the lead slip through our fingers to go two-one down, but managed to get the equaliser and rescue a point in the 78th minute. Thankfully, Huddersfield lost 5-3 to Southampton in an eight-goal thriller, which means we’re now just two points from safety. Indeed, if we beat Stoke by a comfortable margin on Wednesday and other games go our way, we could end up in 19th place!
I went into this game full of optimism. Not only did Marti Cífuentes and Chrisian Nourry manage to sign a striker and bring in two midfielders on loan during the window, but we picked up a new signing after it had closed in the form of Lucas Anderson, a 29 year-old attacking midfielder. All four players featured in this game, with the two loanees – Joe Hodge and Isaac Hayden – in the starting 11.
That meant we lined up as follows in a 4-3-2-1 formation: Asmir Begovic in goal; Reggie Cannon, Steve Cook, Jake Clarke-Salter and Kenneth Paal in the back line; Chris Willock and Jack Colback in front of them; Isaac Hayden, Joe Hodge and Ilias Chair as attacking midfielders; and Sam Armstrong up front. The additions to the squad meant Marti also had some decent subs on the bench: Michael Frey, Lyndon Dykes, Paul Smyth, Anderson and Elija Dixon-Bonner, all of whom featured later on.
The two sides looked pretty evenly matched in the first half, with neither able to control what became a pretty scrappy game. The first chance fell to the visitors, who got in behind in the third minute and might have scored had Cook not been able to make a last-minute tackle. Chair put in a decent cross in the fifth minute, trying to pick out Willock on the far past, just as Willock had picked him out in the match against Millwall. Alas, the 26 year-old was unable to connect, and the ball rolled out for a goal kick. Hodge got off a shot in the 15th minute that wasn’t far wide and Armstrong won a free kick just to the left of the box a minute later that we almost scored from.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute, with Willock’s shot palmed out by Angus Gunn, the Norwich keeper, only for the ball to fall kindly for Colback, who rifled it home with his left foot.
We went in at the break 1-0 up and it looked as though we might take all three points, given how little the visitors offered in the final third. We had four shots to their five, but two of ours were on target, compared to none of theirs. They had slightly more possession than us – 57% to our 43% – but our xG was higher – 0.51 to 0.29.
But the Canaries’ manager, David Wagner, must have said something at the break because they went up a gear in the second half. They looked like a different team – sharper, more energy, real attacking intent. Kenny Maclean got an equaliser in the 48th minute – from a corner, frustratingly – then Josh Sergeant scored in the 63rd.
It was clear Cifuentes needed to do something to get us back into the game and he did it two minute later, making a triple substitution. Off came Hodge, Willock and Armstrong and on came Anderson, Smyth and Frey. They made an immediate impact and dispelled the air of resignation that had begun to settle on the players’ shoulders. Chair put in a searching cross in the 70th minute, but Smyth couldn’t get on the end of it, and a minute later Hayden – impressive throughout – put in a cross that Frey headed goalwards, but put the ball just wide of the right-hand post. It felt like an equaliser was coming.
Sure enough, in the 78th minute Anderson rolled a ball into the box and Frey stepped in front of his man and calmly steered it past Gunn to even the score. Game on.
The remaining 20 minutes or so – there was eight minutes of added time – were frustrating in that we struggled to get it out of our half. That wasn’t entirely because we were outplayed by the Canaries, who showed no sign of settling for a point. It was also because the ref – Ben Toner – kept awarding the visitors free kicks. That was particularly true during added time, with Toner giving Norwich a free kick every time we challenged for the ball.
What made this particularly galling is that news came through that Southampton were beating Huddersfield, meaning that if we won this game we’d be out of the relegation zone for the first time since September. But the chances just wouldn’t come. Indeed, they had more than us, with Bego having to make a couple of decent saves to keep us in it.
The game ended at 2-2, which, given how well Norwich played in the second half, wasn’t a bad result. They’ve beaten us twice this season, after all – once in the league and once in a the Caribou Cup – and they came into this match just one point off the play-offs. The fact that we gave them a proper game and ended up scoring against them twice shows just how much we’ve improved since Cifuentes took over. It was also great to see Frey score on his Loftus Road debut – he took his chance well.
I thought everything turned on our six-pointer against Huddersfield two weeks ago, but the result of that match just preserved the status quo. Since then, we’ve won one and drawn one, but haven’t done quite enough to break free. Now, it looks as though that chance will come at Stoke on Wednesday. The Potters are on a terrible run of form, having lost their last four, and if we beat them we’ll be out of the bottom three even if Huddersfield win their game against Sunderland on Wednesday.
You can watch the highlights on Sky here.
Ahh, the return of Sam Armstrong...will we see him again on Wednesday?
Urss
Thank you as always