Pawel Wszolek tucked past Darren Randolph to put QPR in front

Queens Park Rangers ended a four-game wait for a Championship victory with an impressive win against stuttering promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough.
Rangers went in front when winger Pawel Wszolek turned in from close range, the only goal in a first half which the home side dominated.
Having been on the back foot in the opening 45 minutes, Boro levelled shortly after the break when Rangers were down to 10 men as they waited to replace defender Joel Lynch, who had gone off injured.


George Saville's volley from the edge of the box seared past goalkeeper Joe Lumley, and Stewart Downing then went close soon after.
However, striker Nahki Wells tucked in from Wszolek's cross to extend Boro's winless streak to four matches, in which they have scored only three times.
Boro drop down to sixth, while Rangers move to within five points of the play-off places.

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The omens were against McClaren's side going into this meeting with his old club, as Rangers had been beaten by Boro in each of their past four league meetings and conceded three goals in each of the last three.
The Teessiders were also unbeaten in six away from home, but QPR dictated the game at Loftus Road and enjoyed the best of the chances.
Wszolek might have had a second but his shot drifted wide, while Ryan Shotton's block brought a flowing move between Eberechi Eze and Wells to an abrupt end.
Boro boss Tony Pulis insisted that referee Oliver Langford should have awarded the visitors a first-half penalty for a foul on Britt Assombalonga. And he was unhappy with decisions made by the officials in the build up to Wells' goal.
QPR manager Steve McClaren:
"We deserved to win on the basis of the chances we created and the way we defended. It would have been a travesty had we not won.
"We showed great determination, could have scored more goals and defended resolutely right to the end.
"We had chances to score more. It was a great performance by all the players. We had to defend for our lives. Some of our football, in a tooth-and-nail game, was very good.
"This team never says die. It comes back and, after our second goal, we had something to hang on to. We needed this win. The three points are a big bonus for us."
Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis:
"We need a few breaks. We certainly don't need decisions going against us like they did today. We had an incident in their box, from a corner, where Assombalonga is actually rugby-tackled down and the referee is just five yards away from it and doesn't give it.
"Then we've got an incident in the second half where an offside is given but their player had touched the ball last, so Jonny Howson is 100 per cent not offside. Not only does he give offside, but the goalkeeper (Joe Lumley) then takes it from the edge of the box from a rolling position when the incident has happened 25 yards away.
"We had four or five players then past the ball when they scored the second goal. It's got to be an even playing field. The referee has got to look at those and we'll see what he says.
"Because of the situation with us not scoring goals, the team is trying their damnedest to win a game of football. The players have reacted to the fact that we haven't been scoring and, in their desperation to score, we've lost our shape a bit."

    Line-ups
    Match Stats
    Live Text

Line-ups

QPR

    13Lumley

    2Furlong

    37Leistner

    33LynchSubstituted forScowenat 52'minutes

    3Bidwell

    23Wszolek

    21Luongo

    8Cousins

    7Freeman

    10EzeSubstituted forSmithat 88'minutes

    32WellsSubstituted forOtehat 90+3'minutes

Substitutes

    1Ingram

    11Scowen

    17Smith

    18Oteh

    19Chair

    20Osayi-Samuel

    38Smyth

Middlesbrough

    23Randolph

    5Shotton

    4Ayala

    24FlintBooked at 73mins

    3Friend

    16HowsonSubstituted forWingat 64'minutes

    8Clayton

    22SavilleBooked at 58minsSubstituted forFletcherat 82'minutes

    19DowningSubstituted forTavernierat 64'minutes

    11Hugill

    9AssombalongaBooked at 88mins

Substitutes

    1Konstantopoulos

    6Batth

    17McNair

    18Fletcher

    20Fry

    26Wing

    28Tavernier

Referee:

Oliver Langford

Attendance:

14,088

Match Stats

Home TeamQPRAway TeamMiddlesbrough

Possession

Home49%

Away51%

Shots

Home17

Away8

Shots on Target

Home2

Away1

Corners

Home7

Away5

Fouls

Home17

Away12

Live Text

Posted at
Match ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Middlesbrough 1.Full TimePosted at 90'+5'
Second Half ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Middlesbrough 1.
Posted at 90'+5'
George Friend (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 90'+5'
Foul by Pawel Wszolek (Queens Park Rangers).SubstitutionPosted at 90'+3'
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Aramide Oteh replaces Nahki Wells.Posted at 90'+2'
Attempt blocked. Britt Assombalonga (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Tavernier with a headed pass.Posted at 89'
Attempt missed. Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.SubstitutionPosted at 88'
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Matt Smith replaces Eberechi Eze.BookingPosted at 88'
Britt Assombalonga (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card.Posted at 88'
Foul by Britt Assombalonga (Middlesbrough).Posted at 88'
Darnell Furlong (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 87'
Corner, Middlesbrough. Conceded by Darnell Furlong.Posted at 87'
Attempt blocked. Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Tavernier.Posted at 86'
Attempt missed. Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.Posted at 84'
Foul by Britt Assombalonga (Middlesbrough).Posted at 84'
Darnell Furlong (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 83'
Attempt missed. Pawel Wszolek (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Josh Scowen following a fast break.SubstitutionPosted at 82'
Substitution, Middlesbrough. Ashley Fletcher replaces George Saville.Posted at 81'
Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 81'
Foul by Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers).Posted at 80'
Foul by Britt Assombalonga (Middlesbrough).Posted at 80'
Toni Leistner (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 79'
Attempt missed. Josh Scowen (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.Posted at 76'
Foul by Jordan Hugill (Middlesbrough).Posted at 76'
Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 76'
Daniel Ayala (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 76'
Foul by Luke Freeman (Queens Park Rangers).Posted at 75'
Foul by Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough).Posted at 75'
Nahki Wells (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 74'
George Friend (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 74'
Foul by Pawel Wszolek (Queens Park Rangers).BookingPosted at 73'
Aden Flint (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card.Posted at 71'
George Friend (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 71'
Foul by Darnell Furlong (Queens Park Rangers).Posted at 70'
Foul by Daniel Ayala (Middlesbrough).Posted at 70'
Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.Posted at 67'
Aden Flint (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.Posted at 67'
Foul by Nahki Wells (Queens Park Rangers).Posted at 65'
George Friend (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the attacking half.Posted at 65'
Foul by Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers).

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Source: bbc.com