QPR 0-4 Middlesbrough

Match Report

I wasn’t optimistic about this one. Middlesbrough are having one of their best seasons in years and were in the automatics going in to this, whereas we’ve only won twice in the last nine games and are still missing at least half of our first team players. Those that are rumoured to be coming back  – Ilias Chair, Kwame Poku, Ziyad Larkeche – were nowhere to be seen.

Julien Stéphan made four changes to the team he put out against Sheffield United. Amadou Mbengue took over right back duties from Jimmy Dunne, who replaced Jake Clarke-Salter at centre back; Rhys Norrington-Davies came in for Esquerdinha at left back; Isaac Hayden started in defensive midfield alongside Jonathan Varane, with Kieran Morgan moving forward into the number 10 role; and Rayan Kolli was benched, with Richard Kone on his own up front. That meant we lined up in 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Joe Walsh between the sticks; Mbengue, Dunne, Ronnie Edwards and Norrington-Davies in defence; Varane and Hayden in defensive midfield; Harvey Vale, Morgan and Koki Saito as the attacking trio; and Kone leading the line.

We held our end up surprisingly well in the first 10 minutes, including making two good runs on the left, one from Kone, the other from Norrington-Davies. and crossing the ball into the box. Morgan looked better than he had in the last two – more comfortable further forward, perhaps – and the team played with more intensity overall, which was good to see.

But it wasn’t long before mistakes began to creep in. Varane still isn’t back to his best, kicking it into touch twice in the first 20 minutes under no kind of pressure. Walsh, too, kept kicking it out, clearly lacking in confidence after conceding seven in the last two.

The visitors scored in the 20th minute, following an attack on our right. Mbengue was caught too high up the pitch and easily beaten, a shot went in, it was blocked by Norrington-Davies, but rebounded into the goal off the elbow of David Strelec. No handball given.

That stroke of bad luck produced a bit of a reaction from our players. Hayden got a header on target in the 25th minute which the ’boro keeper, Sol Brynn, had to stretch to keep out. It came just after a shot from Vale, which was blocked.

Another promising attack in the 36th minute broke down when Varane kicked it into touch – again! And the French midfielder made another mistake in the 42nd minute, giving it straight to a ’boro player on the edge of our box. Luckily, nothing came from it.

We were definitely second best in the first half, but at least we were only one goal down at the whistle, an improvement on last week. The visitors enjoyed 71% of the possession in the first period and had seven shots to our four, with two on target. One of the biggest differences between the sides at the mid-point was that 90% of their passes were accurate, compared to 71% of ours. Varane’s passing accuracy was 57% and Walsh’s just 40%. Kone had one shot on target and another blocked – 19 touches in total. We were still in it, but only just.

The Smoggies started with a lot more intent than us, perhaps having seen that stat about how many goals ’ve conceded between the 45th and 55th minute. Every time we threatened to break away, either Varane or Hayden would kick it into touch.

Our first promising attack of the second half came in the 55th minute, with Vale finding Kone in the box and Kone back-heeling it to set up Hayden. But he took a touch instead of putting his laces through it and the move broke down. Another attack a couple of minutes later, also led by Vale, ended with the ex-Chelsea man walloping the ball into the Upper Loft.

Alan Browne scored from a set piece in the 68th minute — a corner we proved unable to defend. It was only then — when the game had got away from us — that Stéphan made his first substitution, with Paul Smyth coming on for Morgan.

Hayden Hackney scored a third for the visitors within two minutes of Smyth coming on, with the goal coming from a defensive error by – yes, you guessed it – Varane. Inevitably, the home stands began to thin out at this point.

After that, you could see the confidence drain away from our players. Kone got a header on target in the 75th minute, but it was an easy catch for Brynn, who didn’t have to move, just lift his hands above his head. With 10 minutes to go, the away fans started Ole-ing their players, an all too familiar sound in the fag end of our season.

Stephen made two more substitutions in the 80th minute, replacing Varane with Jake Clarke-Salter and Saito with Daniel Bennie, then, in the 85th, bringing on Esquerdinha for Norrington-Davies.

Vale hit the bar in the 86th minute – the closest we came to scoring all afternoon – but Mbengue skyed the follow-up and was immediately given the hook for Tylon Smith. That’s the first time we’ve seen the much-ballyhooed South African player at Loftus Road and I was excited to see what he had in his locker. But a minute later, he gave away a penalty. What a debut! The resulting pen was quite soft, with Tommy Conway rolling it slowly into the right-hand corner. But, needless to say, Walsh was unable to do anything about it.

The game ended with our back line under siege, desperately trying to keep the deficit from climbing any higher. Save for Smith giving away a penalty, the substitutions had little effect on the game. Our possession in the second half ticked up to 32%, with the R’s managing five shots in total, one on target. In the match as a whole, our xG was 0.63 while their’s was a whopping 3.68.

This 0-4 loss takes our goal difference to -12, having conceded 11 in the last three games. Thank God we’re still 12 points off the bottom because that’s relegation form. Will Stéphan be given his marching orders next week? I wouldn't be surprised – his departure looks inevitable at this point. Only about half the fans stayed till the end and those that did were in a restive mood.

The match was broadcast on Sky for all the world to witness our humiliation. You can watch the low points here.