QPR consign Leicester to third straight defeat

Substitute Sinclair Armstrong struck the vital goal with his first touch as QPR held off a Leicester City fightback to earn a shock win that consigned the stumbling leaders to a third consecutive Championship defeat.

Ben Nelson scored his first Foxes goal to give Leicester hope with 30 minutes remaining.

The home side piled forward in the closing stages, finishing with 19 attempts on goal, but Rangers defended resolutely to move three places above the relegation zone.

Victory means the R’s lead a group of four relegation-threatened teams on 38 points in an enthralling battle at the bottom, while Leicester have seen a 12-point advantage cut to three in just over two weeks.

Ipswich Town beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0 to go second, ahead of Leeds United, whose nine-match league winning run ended with a 1-1 draw away against Huddersfield Town.

But a third consecutive Rangers win – and third away win in four – seemed unlikely early on as a lively Leicester looked to get their promotion run back on track following defeats against Middlesbrough and Leeds.

Yunus Akgun and Abdul Fatawu both impressed out wide for the hosts, the former driving a dangerous ball across goal and Fatawu going close with a decent volleyed strike.

However, Rangers led when Chair had the simple task of knocking the ball in at the far post after Chris Willock found Lyndon Dykes in space on the right flank and the centre-forward set up his team-mates’ fifth goal of the season.

The belief grew and a frustrated home support saw their side slip further behind when Armstrong brilliantly anticipated a half-cleared free-kick to shoot low into the net.

Lengthy celebrations seemed very premature when Nelson reacted quickly to turn the ball in from 12 yards following Asmir Begovic’s save from a lovely Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall free-kick, but Rangers saw out a win which means they have now lost just once in eight games.

Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester:

“I am disappointed. It’s a bad feeling, especially in this moment, but it is what it is.

“We struggled to find a solution. At the end we shot many times and dominated the game, but we lost. It is three games in a row where we have had incredible effort and created chances but we are not able to score goals and in this sport that is the most important thing.

“Today we created chances. Some of them were clear, some not, some were shots from outside the box. We are trying to do everything. It is incredible effort but we need to do more.

“We have just 11 games to go. When you don’t win and drop points and the rest behind you win then the mood is not a good one. Even when we win we always try to see what is not working well.

“After three defeats we are concerned. But it is a matter of balance. If you worry too much it is not good and if you relax too much, it is not too good.”

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC London:

“It’s a very important win, especially because we managed to achieve three points against a very good team, a top team.

“Despite three defeats in a row I think they will go up because they are fantastic in the they way they play and the players they have.

“The guys are working really hard so that is why I am so happy for them. But we need to be aware the other teams are pushing as well.

“I don’t know how many points we need (to stay up). The other teams are doing a great job and are very close.

“We need to push until the last minute of the last game because we will not be sure how many points we need.

“We had the sharpness to score. We were clinical and we defended very well for 95 minutes; that is the kind of performance we need against a top team like Leicester.”