Stoke City 2 V 2 QPR : Match Report
Nov 24, 2018 22:12:38 GMT
Post by northwesthoop on Nov 24, 2018 22:12:38 GMT
A pulsating afternoon at the Bet365 Stadium saw QPR claim a deserved 2-2 draw against recently relegated Stoke City.
The R's started the game on the front foot playing lovely stuff from the outset (aside from an early Lynch yellow for a wild lunge on Ince) and took the lead when a flowing move that went from one side of the pitch to the other saw a cross from the right makes it way all the way over to Eze on the left and he did great to work himself some space and his cross was begging for contact and Angel Rangel was the unlikely man arriving in the box to power home a header to send the travelling faithful into raptures. The goal was superb. I heard a lot of 'what a lovely goal that was' comments flying around. Impressive.
We really were superb in the opening 20 minutes playing with a real confidence and swagger. Stoke looked like we have in the past; uninterested and second to everything.
Then Lynch had his customary lapse in concentration and this time it was incredibly costly gifting the ball to Ince outside the box instead of finding Bidwell. Ince in turn crossed to the far post, the ball was headed back across the box and despite Lynch blocking the ball on the line trying to make amends Berahino was on hand to stab home from a yard. We gifted a goal to Berahino who was shocking; he had one shot later in the half go out for a throw but we always like to offer up easy goals to people who need them.
The Lynch mistake and subsequent goal sent the jitters through whole team; our confidence was gone, especially when Lynch gave it away twice more soon after in similar positions. The majority of the play for the remainder of the first period was in our half, we just couldn't settle back down. McClean hit the post shortly after the goal with a glancing header from a corner which we were lucky found its way back into the arms of Lumley off the frame.
McClean also had two shots wide and Woods struck over, whilst at the other end on the counter Luongo and Rangel both struck high over the bar from distance. 1-1 at half time was probably fair but it was such a shame we gave away our own momentum as in the first 20 minutes there was only one team in it.
At the start of the second half we were on top again to begin with but not making enough of our chances. We had a corner from Freeman go straight out for a throw and when Eze was gifted the ball by Shawcross 30 yards out he dallied on it and was tackled before making the most of the situation.
Then we played a part in our own undoing again, Cousins gave it away and the play that followed down the right flank ended up with Ince again standing the ball up to the back stick and McClaren headed down for Joe Allen to score. In some respects it was almost a carbon copy of their first goal. I haven't seen it back but it looked like McClean must have been offside as he was all by himself in acres of space behind our defence.
Anyway we kept going, we rode our luck on occasion (Ince had one ruled out for offside) but when we believed in ourselves our play was exquisite and intricate at times with Luongo the driving force all over the pitch. Hemed came on for Wszolek and eventually we got a deserved equaliser. Eze worked himself some space from a position in the middle when it didn't seem like much was possible at first and he then fed a perfect ball through to the rampaging Rangel up from right back who drilled it home into the far side of the net. Scenes in the away end, pure joy. Brilliant stuff.
We also had one cleared off the line before the goal but it was not clear if it would have counted as the flag went up for offside.
So with the score reading 2-2 it seemed like we settled for the point with 10 minutes left, Lumley was taking his time over his kicks and we tried to take the sting out of the game when we could. Smith and Hall came on to assist the defence against former R's frontman Peter Crouch who came on for Stoke. We had moved to a diamond formation in midfield which was not working as Stoke's full backs were then able to push forward and float crosses towards Crouch who did score from one such cross but it was again offside.
It really was pulsating stuff. Right up until the final whistle nobody in the ground could have been sure of the outcome; it was a fantastic, end to end match. There was
a great, positive atmosphere in the away end with almost all QPR fans leaving happy. We have a team we can enjoy watching and feel proud of. They are fighting for the badge. It is such a turnaround since the opening games of the season. McClaren deserves so much credit for getting the fans on side too, he was getting clapped off after a draw - a few months ago a draw would have been met with moaning and groaning but the progress is clear for all to see. He is getting us playing in a way where you can look forward to watching us. Let's not forget Stoke have spent about £50 million, we have 3 loans and a free transfer! Kudos Steve. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Player Ratings:
Lumley: 6 - No real saves to make but did command his area well and couldn't do much with either goal.
Rangel: 8 - It has to be an 8 for his 2 goals but he has had better defensive days as both Stoke goals involved exploiting his back post. His clinical finish for the 2nd will live long in the memory, scenes!
Leistner: 7 - Rock solid as usual
Lynch: 6 - He deserves credit for a solid second half after a horror show in the first half. Made some crucial clearances at the end but if he hadn't given the ball away to kill our strong start I fancy we would have won the game.
Bidwell: 6 - Got caught out a few times and could have done more to stop Ince's crosses. Also Rangel shows how Bidwell should get forward, I still feel he doesn't offer enough in the final third.
Cousins: 6 - The game passed him by in first half but he helped Luongo dominate in the second half
Luongo: 8 - Superb. He pretty much controlled the game especially for a spell in the second half where he was everywhere driving us forward, manipulating the play and breaking up the play in equal measure.
Wszolek: 6 - Just an average performance, you can't knock his work rate but there was no quality today
Eze: 8 - Two fantastic assists and time and time again he had Stoke on the rocks. He also tackled back well when he lost the ball on one occasion.
Freeman: 6 - He was almost trying too hard at times. His work rate was exceptional but his end product was lacking today. He should have played Wells in one on one in a break away in the second half but got fouled as he took too long and we did nothing with the free kick
Wells: 7 - Worked tirelessly, he plays bigger than his size if that makes sense. He was up against Williams and Shawcross and put up a game fight.
Hemed: 6
Smith: n/a
Hall: n/a
The R's started the game on the front foot playing lovely stuff from the outset (aside from an early Lynch yellow for a wild lunge on Ince) and took the lead when a flowing move that went from one side of the pitch to the other saw a cross from the right makes it way all the way over to Eze on the left and he did great to work himself some space and his cross was begging for contact and Angel Rangel was the unlikely man arriving in the box to power home a header to send the travelling faithful into raptures. The goal was superb. I heard a lot of 'what a lovely goal that was' comments flying around. Impressive.
We really were superb in the opening 20 minutes playing with a real confidence and swagger. Stoke looked like we have in the past; uninterested and second to everything.
Then Lynch had his customary lapse in concentration and this time it was incredibly costly gifting the ball to Ince outside the box instead of finding Bidwell. Ince in turn crossed to the far post, the ball was headed back across the box and despite Lynch blocking the ball on the line trying to make amends Berahino was on hand to stab home from a yard. We gifted a goal to Berahino who was shocking; he had one shot later in the half go out for a throw but we always like to offer up easy goals to people who need them.
The Lynch mistake and subsequent goal sent the jitters through whole team; our confidence was gone, especially when Lynch gave it away twice more soon after in similar positions. The majority of the play for the remainder of the first period was in our half, we just couldn't settle back down. McClean hit the post shortly after the goal with a glancing header from a corner which we were lucky found its way back into the arms of Lumley off the frame.
McClean also had two shots wide and Woods struck over, whilst at the other end on the counter Luongo and Rangel both struck high over the bar from distance. 1-1 at half time was probably fair but it was such a shame we gave away our own momentum as in the first 20 minutes there was only one team in it.
At the start of the second half we were on top again to begin with but not making enough of our chances. We had a corner from Freeman go straight out for a throw and when Eze was gifted the ball by Shawcross 30 yards out he dallied on it and was tackled before making the most of the situation.
Then we played a part in our own undoing again, Cousins gave it away and the play that followed down the right flank ended up with Ince again standing the ball up to the back stick and McClaren headed down for Joe Allen to score. In some respects it was almost a carbon copy of their first goal. I haven't seen it back but it looked like McClean must have been offside as he was all by himself in acres of space behind our defence.
Anyway we kept going, we rode our luck on occasion (Ince had one ruled out for offside) but when we believed in ourselves our play was exquisite and intricate at times with Luongo the driving force all over the pitch. Hemed came on for Wszolek and eventually we got a deserved equaliser. Eze worked himself some space from a position in the middle when it didn't seem like much was possible at first and he then fed a perfect ball through to the rampaging Rangel up from right back who drilled it home into the far side of the net. Scenes in the away end, pure joy. Brilliant stuff.
We also had one cleared off the line before the goal but it was not clear if it would have counted as the flag went up for offside.
So with the score reading 2-2 it seemed like we settled for the point with 10 minutes left, Lumley was taking his time over his kicks and we tried to take the sting out of the game when we could. Smith and Hall came on to assist the defence against former R's frontman Peter Crouch who came on for Stoke. We had moved to a diamond formation in midfield which was not working as Stoke's full backs were then able to push forward and float crosses towards Crouch who did score from one such cross but it was again offside.
It really was pulsating stuff. Right up until the final whistle nobody in the ground could have been sure of the outcome; it was a fantastic, end to end match. There was
a great, positive atmosphere in the away end with almost all QPR fans leaving happy. We have a team we can enjoy watching and feel proud of. They are fighting for the badge. It is such a turnaround since the opening games of the season. McClaren deserves so much credit for getting the fans on side too, he was getting clapped off after a draw - a few months ago a draw would have been met with moaning and groaning but the progress is clear for all to see. He is getting us playing in a way where you can look forward to watching us. Let's not forget Stoke have spent about £50 million, we have 3 loans and a free transfer! Kudos Steve. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Player Ratings:
Lumley: 6 - No real saves to make but did command his area well and couldn't do much with either goal.
Rangel: 8 - It has to be an 8 for his 2 goals but he has had better defensive days as both Stoke goals involved exploiting his back post. His clinical finish for the 2nd will live long in the memory, scenes!
Leistner: 7 - Rock solid as usual
Lynch: 6 - He deserves credit for a solid second half after a horror show in the first half. Made some crucial clearances at the end but if he hadn't given the ball away to kill our strong start I fancy we would have won the game.
Bidwell: 6 - Got caught out a few times and could have done more to stop Ince's crosses. Also Rangel shows how Bidwell should get forward, I still feel he doesn't offer enough in the final third.
Cousins: 6 - The game passed him by in first half but he helped Luongo dominate in the second half
Luongo: 8 - Superb. He pretty much controlled the game especially for a spell in the second half where he was everywhere driving us forward, manipulating the play and breaking up the play in equal measure.
Wszolek: 6 - Just an average performance, you can't knock his work rate but there was no quality today
Eze: 8 - Two fantastic assists and time and time again he had Stoke on the rocks. He also tackled back well when he lost the ball on one occasion.
Freeman: 6 - He was almost trying too hard at times. His work rate was exceptional but his end product was lacking today. He should have played Wells in one on one in a break away in the second half but got fouled as he took too long and we did nothing with the free kick
Wells: 7 - Worked tirelessly, he plays bigger than his size if that makes sense. He was up against Williams and Shawcross and put up a game fight.
Hemed: 6
Smith: n/a
Hall: n/a
