The lowdown on QPR 1 Sheffield United 2 – Rangers’ lack of cutting edge proves costly against promotion-chasers
An inability to take their chances proved costly for QPR as they were beaten by Sheffield United at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
QPR: Nardi, Dunne, Cook (Fox 81), Edwards, Paal (Smyth 66), Morgan (Saito 57), Varane, Colback (Dembele 81), Yang (Lloyd 66), Frey, Chair. Subs not used: Walsh, Ashby, Morrison, Andersen.
Sheffield United: Cooper, Choudhury (Seriki 64), Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Burrows, Peck, Souza, Hamer (Brewster 64), O’Hare (McCallum 73), Brereton Diaz (Holding 85), Campbell (Cannon 73). Subs not used: Davies, Brooks, Moore, Rak-Sakyi.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
An impressive performance was not rewarded with any points as QPR failed to make the most of their chances in a defeat that looks to have all but ended their slim hopes of a late-season play-off push. Rangers were behind after only 10 minutes when they were caught out as they tried to clear their lines following a Sheffield United corner. Yang Min-Hyeok was caught in possession as he broke away, allowing Vinicius Souza to cross for Ben Brereton Diaz to head in. Rangers responded well to the early setback though, with Yang and Ilias Chair both testing Michael Cooper in the visiting goal before the interval. Michael Frey was also adjudged to have been marginally offside when he scored from a Jimmy Dunne header. However, it was United who found the net next, with Tyrese Campbell finishing powerfully from the edge of the penalty area early in the second half. Frey pulled one back for Rangers from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to go after Harrison Burrows had handled a Paul Smyth cross, but the home side were unable to find an equaliser in what remained of the game.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Marti Cifuentes once again stuck with his preferred 4-3-3 system against Chris Wilder’s side but there were a couple of notable alterations in terms of personnel. With Sam Field absent through injury, Cifuentes handed Jack Colback just his second start since mid-September in midfield and the 35-year-old provided plenty of energy as Rangers tried to disrupt the Blades’ impressive midfield set-up. Yang was also selected on the right wing ahead of Paul Smyth and once more showed glimpses of his potential even if he was slightly insecure in possession at times, and Kieran Morgan started after three games on the bench but struggled at times and was unable to help QPR build attacks from deep as he so often does when at his best.
Cifuentes’ most interesting tactical tweaks came in the second half when his side were chasing the game. Koki Saito ended up playing at left back, and with Kader Dembele now available again following a long-term knee injury, he came off the bench to end the game as one of two number 10s alongside Ilias Chair as the QPR head coach opted to empty his midfield in search of an equaliser. The changes were ultimately not quite enough to bring about the desired turnaround but it is another indication of how much stronger Cifuentes’ squad is now compared to the early Winter.
STAR MAN
Jonathan Varane. The midfielder massively struggled in the reverse of this fixture in August and was substituted at half-time with QPR two goals down at Bramall Lane. Although it was just his second Championship appearance, Varane looked out of his depth against a side recently relegated from the Premier League. The improvement he has displayed over the past six months has been mightily impressive, and in this game he gave as good as he got against the imperious Vinicius Souza. He even registered one more defensive action than the Brazilian on another impressive afternoon for the Martinique international.
BEST MOMENT
Frey finding the net from 12 yards. The big striker missed the last penalty he took for Rangers – against West Brom last season – and the way he strikes the ball does not make him the most natural of spot-kick takers. The Swiss forward was also on a run of one goal in seven matches after starting the year finding the net in back-to-back games. Frey appears to be Cifuentes’ preferred option to start in attack so getting him scoring again could be important.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
Parachute payments deciding the promotion picture. Sheffield United’s win means they are now five points clear of third-place Burnley in the Championship table and look set for an immediate return to the Premier League. The top three in the league are all recently relegated from the top-flight and are all receiving parachute payments following relegation. That has allowed them to assemble some of the strongest squads in the history of the second tier, and that was shown by Chris Wilder’s side at Loftus Road as they were able to leave the likes of Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Kieffer Moore on the bench throughout the 90 minutes. It’s hard to imagine teams like QPR being able to regularly compete at the top end of the division while other teams have such finances to work with.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
What do QPR have left to play for? While Cifuentes is by no means the sort of head coach to allow his players to start thinking about their summer holidays, it’s hard to see what can realistically be achieved this term apart from shoring up their place in mid-table. What is perhaps more interesting is if the Catalan now takes the remainder of the season as a chance to test if out-of-contract players are worthy of a new deal, and with a much healthier-looking squad now available it could be time to see some previously unseen tactical alterations.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“We created enough chances to score more but that’s the reality of football – it’s not about quantity it’s about quality. They got a really good second goal especially. I would say with both goals we could have done better but I felt that the team performed at a high level in many areas of the game today. It’s just a pity that we couldn’t get more from it, but we played against a quality side that had two or three moments in the game, not much more than that, and they were able to win the game because of it.”