QPR On This Day March 8 - Win at Man City...Win at Birm

Ramage ;D

Colin should get the best casting oscar for replacing Taarabt with him.

Edit -22 Years ago Manchester City 1 QPR 3

QPR Official Site - March 8, 2000
RAMPANT RANGERS blew a huge hole in Man City's promotion hopes and at the same time put their play-off push back on track with an emphatic win at Maine Road.

The magnificent 3-1 triumph halted a run of six successive draws for the R's, and advanced their claims for a late surge towards the top six.

But the visitors were indebted to two goalkeeping clangers from the hosts, Nicky Weaver, as they took full advantage of City's profligacy in front of goal.

It was the home side who started the livelier with runs by Granville, Goater and Pollock in the opening three minutes to test the visitor's defence.

On five minutes Mark Kennedy's blistering run down the left ended with his shot into the arms of Harper and a minute later Wiekens crashed a header off the upright from a Kennedy cross.

City's Danny Tiatto sliced open the defence with a high speed run from deep on ten minutes, but the final touch deserted him in the box. A minute later, somehow the ball stayed out as Goater latched on to the end of another Kennedy cross.

In those opening exchanges, Rangers were forced to batten down the hatches as City threatened to run riot on their own turf.

It was chance after chance for the Blues the clearest coming in the 19th minute. Whitley burst through from midfield to lay on the pass to Goater on the right. He stroked the ball into Pollock in the centre of the area, only for Paul Murray to slide in with an excellent last-ditch challenge.

On 37 minutes, the R's made their opponents pay for wasting their dominance as they capitalised on a howler from Weaver.

Pollock fouled Beck on the edge of the area, the ball was floated in and should have stuck solidly in Weaver's hands, but he dropped it at the feet of Kiwomya, who gleefully tapped home.

With the contest lurching towards the interval, Rangers received the necessary boost to take them into the break in buoyant mood.

Ian Baraclough drove in a speculative low drive from the left. Weaver, outstretched parried the ball, but as he swung his foot at the ball it rebounded off Wiekens and into his own net.

On the resumption after half-time, Rangers were forced to weather an early barrage of City pressure with Kennedy, having switched to the right, teasing the defenders. A rasping shot was tipped over by Harper in the 47th minute.

Jobson's header from a Kennedy free kick shaved the upright as the R's valiantly defended their lead.

On 67 minutes a ball worked from deep left Putzov with a low drive which Harper fumbled into the path of Shaun Goater, but somehow the Bermudan fired the rebound over the bar.

Rangers put the icing on the cake after 74 minutes when Mikkel Beck grabbed his second goal in successive games from the penalty spot.

Kiwomya was felled by Ian Bishop and the box, and Beck thundered home the resulting penalty to the rapturous delight of the travelling R's fans.

Six minutes from time Jeff Whitley scored the goal City had threatened for much of this game with a stunning low drive to Harper's left.

For Rangers, it was a stunning result which was founded on the bedrock of resolute defending and swift, decisive counter-attacking as the home side poured forward at every given opportunity.

The valuable three points keeps the R's play-off hopes alive as they ensured the trek to Manchester was a fruitful one.

WEAVER HARPER

EDGHILL BARACLOUGH

WIEKENS LANGLEY
JEFF WHITLEY READY

L PEACOCK DARLINGTON(ROSE)

GOATER G PEACOCK(WARDLEY)
TIATTO(HORLOCK) PLUMMER
POLLOCK(PutzOV) MURRAY
JOBSON KIWOMYA
KENNEDY WARD
GRANVILLE(BISHOP) BECK

Subs: Subs:
WRIGHT MIKLOSKO
HORLOCK 75 WARDLEY 30
PutzOV 63 ROSE 65
BISHOP 46 SLADE
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS ROWLAND


QPR OFFICIAL SITE - CITY DELIGHT FOR GERRY

RANGERS boss Gerry Francis was thrilled by the win at Manchester City last night.

The R's soaked up long spells of City pressure, defended in style, broke out in numbers and had a little bit of luck along the way.
Gerry said: "Along with winning at Ipswich and Blackburn, this was one of our best results of the season. We said before the game that we respect Man City, but we don't fear them.

"We've had some difficult games recently away to Barnsley and Sheffield United, and then at home to Fulham, and we've come out of it unbeaten. That's seven matches without defeat now and we've shown a remarkable turnaround to last season with primarily the same players.

"We rode our luck early on at Maine Road. Man City were pretty unlucky, hitting the woodwork and so on. But then we got the opening goal and I thought we were pretty comfortable for the rest of the game.

"I wasn't very pleased with the late goal they scored as it changed things and there were still 10 minutes to go.

"But the players deserve a pat on the back. They've worked very hard. We're much more organised, we're certainly more difficult to beat and we've got more pride in the blue and white hoops than we've had in the last couple of years.

"I was also pleased with the tremendous support we had last night. The fans had travelled a long way in midweek and hopefully they enjoyed what they saw."

Edit - 5 Years Ago: SM Interview with Gianni

qprreport.proboards.com/thread/11838/flashback-years-ago-paladini-interview?page=1

Year Ago: Win at Birmingham. 2 goals from Morrison
qprreport.proboards.com/thread/38562/match-report


ESPN


Morrison sinks Blues
PA Sport
Ravel Morrison struck a double as he returned to St Andrew's to haunt Birmingham and pave the way for QPR's first win in six games.

Morrison, who resurrected his career at Birmingham last season, scored from a splendid 14th-minute free-kick and netted an easy second in the 72nd minute to plunge his former club to their 12th successive home game without a win.

But Rangers, bankrolled to a staggering B£65.4million loss in their unsuccessful bid to retain Premier League status last term, made hard work of their return to winning form and may point to the need for a more ruthless streak despite the 2-0 scoreline.

Recent poor form has been a serious set-back to their promotion aspirations when they have lost ground to the two top Sky Bet Championship clubs, Leicester City and Burnley, to the consternation of their popular manager Harry Redknapp.

They were boosted by the return of the influential Joey Barton, and the London club took command very early in the proceedings and should have scored a more conclusive win.

Crisis club Birmingham - who this week saw owner Carson Yeung sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering by a court in Hong Kong - battled bravely and played with plenty of early attacking energy only to be thwarted by Rangers' experienced rearguard.

Rangers stamped their authority on the game in the 14th minute after Birmingham's skipper Paul Robinson conceded a needless free-kick on Kevin Doyle and earned the first booking of the match.

It was from the resultant set-piece that Morrison opened the Londoners' account with a high floated shot to the right of goalkeeper Darren Randolph's groping fingers for his first goal for the Championship side since his on-loan move from West Ham.

Birmingham's best chance of an equaliser came three minutes later and it was only a world-class save by Robert Green which enabled Rangers to maintain their advantage.

Emyr Huws, a young player of rich promise, powered in a free-kick which bounced high towards the top far corner of the net only for Green to tip the ball just over the bar.

Huws had another opportunity but he was far too casual and drifted wide instead of shooting from close range as Rangers surprisingly appeared suspect under pressure.

They were much happier on the attack and Clint Hill's header from Barton's 40th-minute free-kick cannoned back off the crossbar.

Over-elaborate play on the part of Rangers was the reason they were unable to increase their slender lead until the 72nd minute.

Jermaine Jenas made progress down the left and stroked a low ball into the middle where the lurking Morrison had ample time to side-foot home his second goal to seal a long overdue Rangers win.

RELATED TOPICS

Team: Birmingham
Team: Queens Park Rangers
Sport: English League Championship

MAIL
Birmingham: Randolph, Spector, Packwood, Robinson, Caddis, Adeyemi, Huws, Ferguson (Blackett 73), Burke, Zigic (Macheda 58), Ibe (Novak 67). Subs Not Used: Martin, Doyle, Lee, Shinnie.

Booked: Robinson,Caddis.

QPR: Green, Onuoha, Dunne, Hill, Assou-Ekotto, Barton, Jenas, Hoilett (O'Neil 70), Morrison (Carroll 87), Traore, Doyle (Keane 84). Subs Not Used: Hughes, Henry, Murphy, Benayoun.

Goals: Morrison 14,73.

Att: 14,500

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2576255/Birmingham-0-QPR-2-Ravel-Morrison-double-gets-Rangers-track.html#ixzz3TmOQDU82
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Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/38562/match-report#ixzz3TmNV4TUX