| Queens Park Rangers 1 v 4 Ipswich Town EFL Championship Saturday, 1st November 2025 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Queens Park Rangers 1-4 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 1st Nov 2025 17:03 Town comprehensively ended their wait for an away victory, George Hirst and Marcelino Nunez each scoring twice as the Blues beat QPR 4-1 at Loftus Road. Hirst nodded Town in front after only 68 seconds from a Sindre Walle Egeli cross, before the home side levelled through Rumarn Burrell on 21. Sixty-eight seconds after the restart, Nunez smashed home a brilliant free-kick, his first goal for the club, then Hirst headed his second in the 57th minute, before the Chilean scored his second free-kick of the afternoon on 64 as Town claimed their first win on the road since April. The Blues were forced into one change from the team which beat West Brom 1-0 at Portman Road last Saturday with Nunez coming in at number 10 for the injured Sammie Szmodics, who underwent minor knee surgery earlier in the week. Aside from the Irish international’s absence, the Blues fielded the same XI from last weekend, however, striker Ivan Azon was missing from the subs due to an unspecified knock. Ben Johnson and Cameron Humphreys came onto the bench alongside Chuba Akpom, who was fit enough to be involved despite suffering a heavy knock against the Baggies. The home side made four changes with Liam Morrison, Esquerdinha, Isaac Hayden and Ilias Chair coming into the side for Amadou Mbengue, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jonathan Varane and Koki Saito, who were all among the subs. Town, wearing their all red away kit, went ahead in the 68th second via the first attack of the game. Sindre Walle Egeli went round the outside of Esquerdinha on the right and stood up a cross from Hirst who rose high to head across Paul Nardi in the QPR goal and into the corner of the net from eight yards. The Town fans at the other end of the ground delightedly celebrated the Scotland international’s fourth goal of the season, which had given the Blues the lead away from home for the first time this season. Hayden struck Rangers’ first effort of the game from 25 yards in the seventh minute having been found in space by Chair in, but his low shot gave Christian Walton in the Town goal no trouble. A minute later, Hirst charged the ball down on the left but the sliding Nunez was unable to get enough on his overhit cross. However, it reached Walle Egeli out on the right and the Norwegian U21 international cut in a hit a shot which flew only just over the bar. On 11, with QPR unable to get the ball out of their own half, Azor Matusiwa played in Philogene on the left of the area but the former Aston Villa man couldn’t get enough height on his cross from the byline and Nardi was able to pluck out of the air. The home side began to see more of the ball and in the 21st minute they levelled. Walle Egeli stood off Chair, who took it inside before hitting a shot which Walton saved but was only able to push out, Rumarn Burrell reacting quickest to tap home the rebound. The Town players appealed for an offside but no flag was forthcoming and replays suggested correctly. Having conceded, the Blues found themselves under the cosh for a spell, Matusiwa knocking a cross from the right behind, then on 27 Walton spilled a ball in from the same flank under pressure, before it was turned behind for a corner. Following the flag-kick, Harvey Vale shot wide from just outside the box. Town began to re-establish themselves in the game, Vale picking up the game’s first yellow card for tripping Leif Davis as the left-back went past him on the touchline. Moments earlier, Walle Egeli looked to have been brought down just outside the box but with referee Sam Allison not showing any interest. On 34, following a long Darnell Furlong throw from the right, O’Shea clipped a ball into the middle from the right of the box after good work from Walle Egeli. Hirst headed goalwards but Morrison got his head in the way to divert it behind. The resultant corner was punched away from under the bar by Nardi, the ball reached Philogene on the edge of the box and the winger’s strike flew not too far over. Two minutes later, the game was halted for O’Shea to receive treatment after being caught by a Richard Kone elbow, much to the annoyance of the Town players, but with referee Allison showing no inclination to show a card. After play restarted, the Blues’ passing out from the back was charged down, then at the other end Philogene found some space to cut into from the left but Nardi dealt with his low shot comfortably. There was a big scare for Town, who had again had more than their fair share of sloppy moments at the back, in the 39th minute when O’Shea allowed Kone to steal the ball from him midway inside the Blues’ half to the left. The Irish international got back to force the Ivorian wide, but the former Wycombe man was still able to get in a shot, which Walton pushed away. This time, Town got on the loose ball but Jack Taylor’s pass back into the area to Cedric Kipre was beyond the centre-half and gave away a needless corner. Moments before the whistle at the end of two additional minutes, Davis was played in in space on the left after a well-worked move but with the linesman’s flag raised. The Blues got off to the perfect start with the early goal, something they’d failed to score in their previous away games, and for a spell afterwards they were well on top. However, they had become scruffier and QPR had began to see more of the ball, even if the leveller came out of very little with the Blues’ defending leaving a fair bit to be desired and Walton likely feel he ought to have dealt with the shot much better. QPR were the better side in the latter stages but with the game there to be won by either side in the second half. Sixty-eight seconds in to the second half, the Blues scored, just as they had in the first. Philogene was shoved over five yards outside the area to the left, referee Allison allowing play to develop before pulling it back for the free-kick. Nunez took the kick and struck a brilliant effort past the QPR wall, beyond Nardi’s outstretched left hand and into the corner of the net, the Chilean international’s first goal for the club and as good a free-kick as Town have scored for some years. Despite having restored their lead, the Blues continued to have nervy, sloppy moments at the back, Kipre losing out on the left but Matusiwa dealing with the cross, and with too many passes going astray. But in the 57th minute, with QPR committing more men forward, the Blues added to their lead. Furlong played to Nunez on halfway, the Chilean moving it on to Walle Egeli, who took it on into the area before feeding Furlong overlapping outside him. The former QPR full-back stood up a cross to the far post and Hirst headed his second of the game into the net to take his tally to five - level with Philogene and Jack Clarke - and give the Blues breathing space. But QPR weren’t dead and buried, Kipre doing well to defend a cross from the left, then from Chair’s corner from the left Jimmy Dunne heading over when challenging with Walton. On 62, the home side made their first changes, Chair, Esquerdinha and Vale making way for Saito, Norrington-Davies and Kwame Poku. Within two minutes of the changes, the Blues went 4-1 in front. Hirst threaded in Philogene just outside the area on the left, Morrison sending the wideman flying and picking up a deserved yellow card. Had Philogene been taking a more direct route towards goal, then referee Allison might have opted for a red. Nunez again took the kick, this time going to the near side, the ball clipping Saito in the middle of the wall and beating Nardi to his right to send the Blues fans behind the goal into raptures. QPR swapped Kone for Michael Frey on 68 as they looked for a way back into a game which looked well beyond their reach. Three minutes later, Hirst chased a ball down the middle but slipped as Morrison forced him off it and required treatment. On 73, the striker made way, although didn’t appear to be in too much discomfort as he left the field, along with Davis and Walle Egeli, with Akpom, Johnson and Kasey McAteer taking over. Two minutes after the Town changes, Saito brought the ball forward into space on the right before hitting a shot across Walton, the keeper getting a strong arm on it to push it well away from goal, McAteer dealing with it from there. QPR made their final change on 78, Mbengue replacing Steve Cook. The Blues continued to look for goals, Johnson sending a dangerous cross over from the left which was just beyond Akpom and McAteer at the far post. In the 81st minute, a free-kick not far outside the area was laid off to Nicolas Madsen, but the Dane sent his shot deep into the stand behind the goal, summing up his side’s second-half display. Town made their final changes in the 84th minute, Clarke and Ashley Young replacing Nunez and Philogene. Young went to left-back with Johnson moving ahead of him and Clarke into the number 10 role. Two minutes later, McAteer shot from the edge of the area, Nardi parrying it down before claiming at the second attempt. As the game moved towards seven additional minutes, Mbengue was booked for a late tackle on Clarke on halfway. In the closing stages, Hayden was booked for a foul on Matusiwa, before the final whistle was greeted by boos by the Rs’ support, who last witnessed a home win on September 20th. After a nervy end to the first half, Nunez’s first free-kick, perhaps the best for Town since Nathan Broadhead’s pivotal strike against Sheffield Wednesday in the League One promotion season, settled the Blues down and after Hirst had bagged his second the result was never in doubt, Nunez’s second adding some gloss. The scoreline perhaps gives the game an overly one-sided look with QPR perhaps shading the first half. The boos from the home fans at the whistle seemed a little harsh. As has been the case lately, Town were good in spells but equally still showed signs of being a team in development with relationships still being formed, passes going astray and confidence looking to be hit for a spell after QPR levelled. But they got back on top with Nunez showing his set-piece prowess and Hirst finishing both his opportunities confidently. The result is the Blues’ biggest away win since beating Coventry by the same scoreline in the FA Cup in February and in the league since defeating Millwall 4-0 at the Den on Valentine’s Day 2024. At Loftus Road, it’s Town’s biggest win since 1999 when George Burley’s team won by the same scoreline. Town, who are up to ninth, three points off the play-offs and six from the top two with a game in hand on all those above them, next host Watford, who beat second-placed Middlesbrough 3-0 this afternoon, at Portman Road on Tuesday. QPR: Nardi, Dunne (c), Morrison, Cook (Mbengue 78), Esquerdinha (Norrington-Davies 62), Hayden, Madsen, Vale (Poku 62), Chair (Saito 62), Kone (Frey 68), Burrell. Unused: Hamer, Mbengue, Field, Varane, Smyth. Town: Walton, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Davis (Johnson 63), Matusiwa, Taylor, Walle Egeli (McAteer 73), Nunez (Young 84), Philogene (J Clarke 84), Hirst (Akpom 73). Unused: Button, Greaves, Cajuste, Humphreys. Referee: Sam Allison (Wiltshire).
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