The lowdown on QPR 1 Hull 3 – Rangers remain without a home win in the league after being picked off by clinical visitors

QPR extended their winless run to four matches as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Hull City at Loftus Road on Tuesday night.

Here is the lowdown on the match.

THE LINE-UPS

QPR: Nardi, Hevertton, Dunne, Cook, Paal, Field, Madsen (Lloyd 83), Dembele (Chair 74), Andersen (Smyth 65), Saito (Dixon-Bonner 83), Frey (Celar h/t).

Subs not used: Walsh, Ashby, Fox, Bennie

Hull: Pandur, Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Drameh, Slater (Zambrano 58), Simons, Palmer Mehlem 58), Belloumi (Omur 90+3), Bedia (Burstow 86), Millar (Giles 90+3).

Subs not used: Rushworth, Burns, Kamara, Alzate

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

Despite producing what was probably their best performance of the season so far, QPR were beaten 3-1 by a clinical Hull side on Tuesday night.

All three Hull goals had an element of luck about them, with a deflection aiding the visitors on each occasion, while Rangers failed to make the most of a number of good chances in either half.

Despite making a promising start to the game, QPR found themselves two goals down by the 36th minute, as first Cody Drameh found the net from the edge of the box and then Chris Bedia tapped in at the back post after Rangers failed to properly clear a corner.

They were back in the game before half-time, with Nicolas Madsen scoring emphatically from the penalty spot after Hull captain Lewie Coyle was penalised for handball.

Marti Cifuentes’ side were unable to draw level after the interval though, and a goal from Liam Millar with 20 minutes to play effectively sealed the result.

TACTICAL APPROACH

Cifuentes stuck with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation but made a notably attacking selection in midfield, with Madsen starting alongside Sam Field in the centre of the park.

This helped QPR progress the ball both down the left and through central areas, particularly in a bright start to the game, with the Danish midfielder regularly combining well with Koki Saito and Lucas Andersen.

With Saito causing plenty of problems down the left, QPR showed a fluency and confidence that has often been missing from their attacking play so far this season.

However, they were unable to clear a short corner in the build-up to Drameh’s opener and made an even bigger mess when allowing Bedia to double the lead, and confidence was clearly knocked.

Cifuentes introduced Ilias Chair for his first appearance of the season as a last throw of the dice but he looked noticeably rusty given he has been out since the start of pre-season with a back injury.

STAR MAN

Koki Saito.

A bright spark on a frustrating night but he arguably summed up the performance as well as anyone. He caused Hull right back Coyle all sorts of problems with his changes of direction and impressive dribbling. However, he also passed up two great chances to score either side of half-time as he was first denied by Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur and then hit the outside of the post on the second occasion.

BEST MOMENT

Madsen’s emphatic penalty. The Dane scored ten spot-kicks for his former side Westerlo last season in the Belgian Pro League, and he made no mistake from 12 yards on Tuesday night. His powerful effort was perfectly placed into the top corner and left Pandur with no chance of saving.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Rangers lack of cutting edge. QPR had 21 shots by the final whistle and racked up an expected goals total of 2.56 compared to Hull’s 1.87. They should have been ahead by the time they fell behind. Pandur made a number of impressive saves but there were a couple of situations where he should have been given no chance to do so. This profligacy only seemed to add to the frustration of the team and the crowd, and the positive sign that chances are being created will soon be forgotten if it does not lead to results in the near future.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

The return of Chair. The Moroccan international did not look anywhere near his best in this cameo but he is undoubtedly QPR’s talisman, and his return should boost morale as well as pay dividends on the pitch. Quite how he will fit into the team alongside both Saito and Kader Dembele does not look immediately obvious, but it is a nice problem for Cifuentes to have.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“We started the game at a very high level. The kind of reaction, energy and high press we demand from the players and I was very pleased with the first 10-15 minutes.

“The keeper made 3-4 amazing saves at 0-0 and then emotionally it was not easy because they scored a goal at a set play.

“They were very good at scoring in key moments. Not only the second goal but the third is a bit the same.

“No other team in the Championship created as many chances as we did tonight and still we lost the game. That’s football, that’s reality.

“We were very dominant and created lots of situations but football is about quality, it is about boxes and scoring goals and they were better than us today, [I have] nothing to complain [about].”

PICTURES: ROB AVIS