QPR v Stoke City - e-Football Report

Article by Jeff Mayakovsky

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A lunchtime kick off meant that we all had to dragged ourselves out of bed a bit earlier then usual, but the warm weather made for a pleasant morning. We discussed last weeks match and the lack of passion displayed and were more then a little wary of Mark Hughes' Stoke City, after all their away form has been particularly good, notching up that 1-0 win against Manchester City.

Redknapp made a number of changes Armund Traore was picked instead of Clint Hill, Joey Barton and Jordan Mutch returned to the team alongside Eduardo Vargas making his home debut. The Rangers fans sang 'stand up if you hate Mark Hughes' as the game started, but the worry we had about this fixture manifested its self in the form of Diouf who gave Stoke the lead in the 11th minute, Crouch appeared to fail Rio Ferdinand to make the goal, but the referee did not see the infringement.

It left the R's chasing the game until Stephen Caulker headed home from a corner just before half time. We went down for our half time refreshment slightly buoyed by the goal and hope for a far better second half. We never checked the script, as it was always going to be difficult containing the ex Ranger Peter Crouch and sure enough in the 51st minute he made no mistake in slotting in Stoke's second.

Mauricio Isla was not having a good time of it as he strives to get used the Premier league he could be blamed for both goals, the first of which he was not able to stop the cross that led to the first goal and in losing possession in a critical part of the pitch that left the Rangers defence under pressure that resulted in Crouch's goal.

The stats show that QPR had 53% of the possession but we were never able to convert our chances. Stoke looked like they would soak up the pressure and take the away win, that was until Kranjcar was brought down outside the box in the 88th minute, he took the free kick and placed it beautifully beyond the diving keepers reach into the corner of the goal. The ground erupted in delirium as we drew level 2-2.

Both Barton and Mutch were withdrawn with injuries and with Sandro out with a knee injury our midfield is looking very bare. In fairness Leroy Fer had a good game and he is getting better by the week. We will need to be very well organised for next weeks trip to in-form Southampton, the injuries are a worry.

On the positive side the team did not give up fighting and we are going to need that spirit throughout the season. Leicester's victory over Manchester United on Sunday demonstrated how weak their back four are, something we failed to really test last week at Old Trafford. The jury is out as far as the fans are concerned regarding Harry Redknapp, he sometimes makes some strange decisions that leave the fans frustrated. Only time will tell, for now we can feel relieved that we did not drop 3 points at home and hopefully have something to build on. Small comforts!

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