QPR 2-1 Blackburn Rovers: FLW report as Jack Colback scores winner off the bench | OneFootball

FLW reports live from Loftus Road as QPR beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1

Jack Colback came off the bench to score a 76th-minute winner for QPR as Marti Cifuentes' side beat play-off hunting Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Loftus Road on Tuesday night.

Michael Frey took less than five minutes to head the hosts into the lead and then Rangers were made to pay for not making more of their first-half dominance when Tyrhys Dolan equalised from the penalty spot early in the second period.

Enter Colback as the clock ticked down, with the experienced midfielder powering a half-volley in from the edge of the box to secure a deserved victory for the West Londoners.

The Hoops move up to 13th – three points back from the play-offs – while Rovers remain fifth but could drop out of the top six completely on the weekend, with teams below them playing in the Championship while their attention is on the FA Cup.

QPR 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Marti Cifuentes was back in the dugout after missing the Millwall trip due to illness and any lingering symptoms will have been eased by the Hoops' fast start as they took less than five minutes to force an opening.

Kenneth Paal's quick feet earned the hosts a free-kick on the left and Ilias Chair whipped a ferocious delivery onto the head of Frey, who glanced his header past Aynsley Pears into the far corner.

Rangers could have doubled their deficit moments later but there was no teammate on the end of Paul Smyth's volleyed cross after they went back to front quickly following a marauding run from on-loan Southampton centre-back Ronnie Edwards.

Blackburn were more than playing their part in what was fast becoming a lung-busting opening half-hour. Owen Beck rattled the bar after Andreas Weimann's blocked shot pinballed around the box and Tyrhys Dolan forced an excellent save out of Paul Nardi as the visitors pressed for a response.

Rovers saw penalty appeals correctly waved away when Lewis Travis went down in the box under a challenge from Koki Saito while Nardi denied them not long after, sparing Steve Cook's blushes by racing out to beat Dolan to the centre-back's miss-hit clearance.

A spell weathered, the R's went on the offensive as the break approached. Smyth fired an edge-of-the-box strike just wide of the left-hand post, Saito popped up in dangerous areas but couldn't quite convert and Edwards put a header onto the roof of the net.

It was Chair that went closest to the second, however. He fired a series of strikes just wide and was denied on three occasions by Pears – the last from close range as first-half stoppage time began. The Moroccan was nearly made to pay for that miss within a minute when Blackburn striker Mahktar Gueye had a shot blocked inside the six-yard box but, still, at the break the only frustration for Rangers was that they weren't further ahead.

That fact would come back to haunt them within eight second-half minutes as Dolan leveled from the penalty spot. The Blackburn winger sent Nardi the wrong way from 12 yards out after Saito had brought down Callum Brittain.

With their tails up, Rovers pushed for the go-ahead goal straight away and went front-to-back quickly before Gueye's ferocious strike was parried by the R's number one.

Were there VAR in the Championship, it might've asked the referee to take a second look when Jimmy Dunne – back in the side after missing Millwall amid transfer speculation – was hauled to the ground as we approached the hour but as it was the hosts' shouts fell on deaf ears.

A flurry of attacking subs suggested neither manager was keen to settle for a point as we reached the final 20 minutes. It was a conservative change, the arrival of Colback in place of the more forward-thinking Kieran Morgan, that would ultimately make the difference, however.

The substitution slammed home a half-volley from the edge of the box to put Rangers ahead with less than a quarter of an hour to go, lashing a bouncing ball through Pears, who got a hand on it but could only direct the ball into the top corner.

Though Rovers' chance to respond did come, Amario Cozier-Duberry – a second-half substitute himself – could only smash his effort into the side-netting as Eustace's side headed home with nothing.

QPR player ratings

Paul Nardi - 7

Jimmy Dunne - 7

Steve Cook - 7

Ronnie Edwards - 7

Kenneth Paal - 7

Sam Field - 7

Kieran Morgan - 6 (Jack Colback (71) - 8)

Paul Smyth - 7 (Yang Min-Hyeok (66) - 6)

Ilias Chair - 8 (Morgan Fox (89) - 6)

Koki Saito - 7 (Jonathan Varane (89) - 6)

Michael Frey - 8 (Alfie Lloyd (66) - 6)

Unused subs: Joe Walsh, Liam Morrison, Harrison Ashby, Rayan Kolli,

Blackburn Rovers player ratings

Aynsley Pears - 6

Callum Brittain - 7

Dom Hyam - 7

Danny Batth - 6

Owen Beck - 7

Lewis Travis - 5 (Adam Forshaw (82) - 6)

Jordan Buckley - 6 (Joe Rankin-Costello (82) - 6)

Tyrhrys Dolan - 7 (Amario Cozier-Duberry (64) - 6)

Andi Weimann - 6 (Todd Cantwell (64) - 6)

Ryan Hedges - 6 (Augustus Kargbo (87) - 6)

Makhtar Gueye - 6

Unused subs: Balazs Toth, Dion Sanderson, James Edmonson, Matthew Litherland,

Attendance

The attendance for QPR v Blackburn Rovers at Loftus Road was 13,571.

That included 782 travelling Rovers fans.

Marti Cifuentes post-match reaction

Cifuentes was delighted by his side's performance and the result.

He told the press: "Exactly, exactly that I'm very pleased about, not only about the win, because we spoke with the guys before the game that it was very important to bounce back, especially at home.

"I felt it was a bit harsh for the team to get zero points from the last two games. I'm not saying that everything was perfect and brilliant but perhaps it was a bit too harsh. But that's reality, and I think it was very important for us emotionally to get back home and to have a good performance.

"That's why I'm very pleased because it's not only about the three points, it's against a very good team. Blackburn showed why they are where they are in the table. A good team that every time they were in the last third you could see that they were dangerous.

He added: "The way we picked up ourselves after conceding the penalty and got back into the game and the bench impact once again, I'm very happy."

John Eustace post-match reaction

"I'm very disappointed we lost the game," Eustace told the press afterward. "It was tough game. We got ourselves back into it, we had a few chances, they had a few chances but to lose in the manner we did with another soft goal is very disappointing.

"Set-pieces we've been very good from a defensive point of view but we weren't good enough at the start. We got into the game, had a couple of chances and then they raised the tempo and had a couple of chances themselves.

"Then second half, we started really well, got back into the game, I thought we could've gone on and won it. They had a bit of momentum with the changes and obviously disappointed by conceding the goal that we did."

He added: "Second half, I had a little word with the boys but they sorted it out themselves as well. Just the manner of the second goal is really disappointing, I think we have to react better to the second phase and I think we should probably save the goal as well."

Quizzed about a potential handball in the build-up, he said: "I'm not interested in that, we should do better in the second phase of the attack and put our bodies on the line to make sure we keep the ball out of the net."