QPR 1-3 West Brom: FLW report as Josh Maja hat-trick earns Baggies winning start | OneFootball

FLW report live from Loftus Road

Josh Maja's hat-trick ensured West Bromwich Albion made a winning start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign as they came from behind to beat QPR 3-1 at Loftus Road.

Lucas Andersen put the hosts ahead inside 20 minutes but Albion were soon level through Maja, who scored three times from close range and twice with his head to pull the visitors level, put them into the lead, and then extend it.

The 25-year-old endured an injury-hit first season with the Baggies but early signs suggest he could be the answer to Carlos Corberan's striker dilemma this season duo to Brandon Thomas-Asante's exit, the arrival of Devante Cole, and the ongoing absence of Daryl Dike.

A promising start gave way to an afternoon of frustration for Marti Cifuentes' side, who want to kick on after avoiding relegation last season but are set to finish the weekend near the bottom of the Championship.

QPR 1-3 West Brom

There was a feeling of real optimism at Loftus Road ahead of Cifuentes' first full season but with Chris Willock gone and Ilias Chair injured, the Hoops were tasked with getting off to a winning start without two of their most influential players in recent years.

Striker Zan Celar was recruited over the summer to add the goals that the R's were lacking last year but it was a January signing, Andersen, that got them up and running for 2024/25 in the 16th minute.

19-year-old academy product Rayan Kolli unlocked the Baggies defence, cutting in from the left to deliver a perfectly weighted right-footed cross and pick out the Dane, who had ghosted in between the defenders to head home.

But the hosts' advantage lasted all of 10 minutes. They were given a warning by Albion when a probing Karlan Grant cross was hacked away and moments later the equaliser was created from the same left flank – debutant Thorbjørn Heggem bursting to the byline and finding a free Maja, who nodded past Paul Nardi from six yards out.

The goal sapped much of the R's early momentum and attacking fluidity, and it was Corberan's team looking the most likely to find the game's third goal either side of the break.

It took them just six second half minutes to find it. Maja powered another header past Nardi to give Albion the lead but, in truth, the goal was all about Tom Fellows. The young winger left R's left-back Kenneth Paal for dead with a brilliant stepover and then hung a cross up to the back post for his number nine to crash into the six-yard box and convert.

The Baggies' celebrations were nearly short-lived when Andersen seized on Heggem's mistake and burst into the right-hand side of the box but slid his effort across Alex Palmer and wide of the post.

That miss was made to look particularly costly just after the hour as Maja completed his hat-trick to extend West Brom's advantage. Again Fellows tricked past Paal and his cross ricocheted off Steve Cook into the path of Maja, who hooked it goalwards with an acrobatic finish.

Andersen again came close to a near-instant response after bursting in behind to collect a floated ball over the top but he was denied by a Heggem's brilliant block, the left-back covering plenty of ground to protect the lead.

As we entered the final 20 minutes, Cifuentes threw on Michael Frey to replace the anonymous Celar as well as brand-new signing Jonathan Varane in place of Jack Colack. Were it not for Nardi's reaction save minutes after the substitutions, the game would surely have been out of react but the Frenchman kept the hosts alive.

They were, however, unable to capitalise. Lloyd's long-range effort, which whistled wide of the post, and Cook's half-volley right at the keeper were the closest the R's came to a second goal as Corberan's side held out to secure three points on opening weekend.

They head back to the West Midlands in the top six while their West London hosts must surely look to the transfer market to add the firepower they appear to be missing.

FULL TIME: QPR 1-3 WEST BROM

QPR player ratings

Paul Nardi - 6

Jimmy Dunne - 5

Steve Cook - 5

Jake Clarke-Salter - 5

Kenneth Paal - 5

Jack Colback - 6 (Jonathan Varane (71) - 6)

Sam Field - 6

Paul Smyth - 7 (Daniel Bennie (85) - 6)

Lucas Andersen - 7

Rayan Kolli - 6.5 (Alfie Lloyd (56) - 6)

Zan Celar - 4 (Michael Frey (71) - 5)

Unused subs: Joe Walsh, Lyndon Dykes, Liam Morrison, Elijah Dixon-Bonner, Hevertton Santos

West Brom player ratings

Alex Palmer - 6

Darnell Furlong - 6

Semi Ajayi - 6

Kyle Bartley - 7

Torbjørn Heggem - 8 (Gianluca Frabotta (85) - 6)

Jayson Molumby - 7 (Ousmane Diakite (76) - 6)

Alex Mowatt - 6

Tom Fellows - 8 (Lewis Dobbin (81) - 6)

John Swift - 6

Karlan Grant - 7

Josh Maja - 9 (Devante Cole (76) - 6)

Unused subs: Joe Wildsmith, Caleb Taylor, Fenton Heard, Modou Faal, Reece Hall,

Marti Cifuentes post-match reaction

Speaking after the game, Cifuentes said: "I'm not very satisfied about our performance. I think if you only check the stats, we had more chances than West Brom. Today the boxes made a big difference but I'm not satisfied.

"Even though we took the lead, I think we had good moments in the first half, in the first 10 minutes, but then after we scored, slowly we started to drop and basically the equaliser was the consequence of us dropping too much and defending too passive.

"The three goals were pretty bad because it's about something that we did well in the past and unfortunately today we were not at that level. West Brom shot on goal four times – three of them were goals and another was a brilliant save by Paul (Nardi) so that shows a big difference.

"Instead, we had more situations around the box. Obviously, the last 20/25 minutes because of the game dynamics, usually when you're losing by two games that's the kind of dynamics that can happen so we had a lot of situations but still not very clear goal chances. It was a big difference."

He added: "I think it's a good reality check. To understand something I've been speaking a lot about in the last weeks about understanding that the reality of this league is very challenging."

Carlos Corberan post-match reaction

"I am not going to make an analysis of the game based on the result," Corberan told the press after the game. "That would probably be unfair because sometimes you make the deliveries that we make and Josh Maja is maybe not there to head the ball and score the goals, and you don't achieve the result that we've achieved today.

"Today the most important thing for me was to see the players. Don't be thinking in what we don't have, be thinking in what we do have. Facing the challenge with the right mentality and fighting until the end to achieve the right result that we have."

On Maja, he said: "We are very happy with the fact that he was playing today. We know that the last year was, unfortunately, very complicated. He only played once in the first XI in the last year in the game that they injured him in the first half.

"He suffered a very unfair situation in my opinion in the last year but Maja has come back this summer with a mentality to recover this year and play his best.