Four takeaways from QPR’s 2-1 win against Rotherham United – Rangers climb out of the drop zone thanks to Cifuentes’ tactical tweak

QPR moved out of the Championship relegation zone thanks to a 2-1 win against Rotherham United at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Here are Dan Evans’ takeaways from the game.

QPR FINALLY TAKE THEIR CHANCE TO GET OUT OF THE BOTTOM THREE

While QPR have undeniably improved as a team under the guidance of Marti Cifuentes, they have all too regularly passed up opportunities to move out of the Championship relegation zone since he became head coach.

Going into the Rotherham game, QPR had missed five separate opportunities to get out of the bottom three over the past few weeks.

Most frustratingly, they have slipped up against teams that are currently close to them in the league table in Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and Huddersfield Town.

And it looked as though that trend was set to continue against Rotherham, as an energetic start from the visitors unsettled the QPR defence and made it difficult for Cifuentes’ side to establish control of the game after they fell behind to Tom Eaves’ early goal.

Having limited mid-table Bristol City to just two shots on target in last weekend’s impressive 1-0 away win, Rangers struggled to contain a side that seems destined for relegation.

However, a second-half comeback courtesy of goals from Paul Smyth and Chris Willock turned the game around and earned the three points they needed to move out of the drop zone for the first time in five months.

With crucial fixtures against Birmingham City, Swansea City, Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth still to come, QPR’s destiny is now in their own hands.

ILIAS CHAIR AND CHRIS WILLOCK ENJOY THEMSELVES IN CIFUENTES’ NEW SYSTEM

Cifuentes has regularly made game-altering tactical changes to aid QPR’s push for survival, but few have felt quite as crucial as the ones he made at half-time of this win.

With Rangers a goal down at the interval after a flat first-half performance, they looked set to miss out on a golden opportunity to move out of the Championship relegation zone.

However, Cifuentes made a double substitution at the break while also changing his side’s formation to an unfamiliar 3-4-3.

He explained afterwards that the switch was made to get more QPR players into the middle of the pitch to win second balls, and this helped the home side take control of proceedings.

Unsurprisingly, it was Ilias Chair and Chris Willock who benefitted most from this momentum shift.

They took up more central positions in support of striker Michael Frey, and as the Rotherham defence began to tire, Chair and Willock began to dominate play.

Both players would probably like to play on the left wing so they can cut inside on to their right foot and get shots away, but having them central meant QPR were able to regularly get both in to goal-scoring positions.

This was best displayed for Willock’s 75th-minute winner, as Chair dribbled beyond a couple of opponents before picking out his team-mate in a central space on the edge of the box to fire home.

Whether Cifuentes decides to use this new formation from the start in the coming games remains to be seen, but it certainly had the desired effect on Saturday and brought the best out of his two star attackers.

JIMMY DUNNE SHOWS WHY HE KEPT HIS STARTING SPOT

It was something of a surprise to see Jimmy Dunne’s name on the team sheet for last weekend’s trip to Bristol City.

The defender had not started a game for QPR since the defeat to Watford more than a month beforehand, with Steve Cook and Jake Clarke-Salter Cifuentes’ preferred pairing at centre-back.

Although both have struggled with injury at different points of this season, Dunne was selected alongside them for the trip to Bristol rather than taking one of their places.

It pointed to a possible change of formation by Cifuentes, but the Irishman ended up directly replacing Reggie Cannon at right back.

Cannon had felt unwell in the build-up to that game and was only named on the bench, but Dunne’s performance meant he kept his place for Rotherham’s visit to Loftus Road.

And the 26-year-old was just as good against the Millers. He impressed in a flat first-half showing from QPR, and went on to excel in the second half on the right side of a back three following the switch of formation.

Dunne ended up making five clearances, two tackles and an interception as the Rangers defence recovered well following an unconvincing start to the game.

Yet, most impressively, he was incredibly secure in possession after being criticised for his lack of composure on the ball early in Cifuentes’ reign.

Whether driving down the right wing to start attacks or playing passes into midfield, Dunne looked every bit like the ball-playing defender on Saturday.

COMEBACK WIN THE LATEST STRING TO ADD TO CIFUENTES’ BOW

QPR have won just 12 Championship games since the start of 2023, so it is perhaps little surprise that few of them have been epic comebacks of heroic proportions.

They recovered from falling behind early in the second half in the 4-2 win against Stoke City in November that proved to be Cifuentes’ first win as Rangers’ boss, but until the Rotherham success, they had not recovered to earn three points following a half-time deficit since a 2-1 win against Luton Town in March 2022.

A nervous first-half showing against the side that is currently at the bottom of the Championship made it seem as though another potential opportunity to move out of the relegation zone was about to be passed up.

However, Cifuentes half-time changes gave QPR a platform to control the second half. The relief of equalising through Smyth on the hour mark was followed by a sense of inevitability in the build-up to Willock’s winner.

With Rangers almost certain to need plenty more victories like this to secure safety by the end of the season, it is a good habit to try and pick up.

PICTURES: ROB AVIS