Hornets spoil Sousa's day

Smith: Opened scoring for Watford

Related links

Teams

• Queens Park Rangers
• Watford

Also see

• Championship fixtures
• Championship table
• Championship stats

Queens Park Rangers began life under Paulo Sousa with a 3-0 defeat against struggling Watford.

Watching from the stands, former Portugal assistant coach Sousa saw Watford surge into a three-goal lead by half-time as Darren Ward and Lee Williamson added to a Tommy Smith penalty.

QPR did not concede again after the break but a miserable afternoon was completed ten minutes from time when Fitz Hall was shown a red card.

Languishing in the bottom three after five successive defeats, Watford's confidence was weak but they gained authority after a helping hand from their opponents.

Midway through the half, Damion Stewart pushed Tamas Priskin in the box and, in spite of QPR protests, the referee pointed to the spot.

Smith stepped up and sent QPR goalkeeper Radek Cerny the wrong way to give Watford the lead.

Harley had already gone close with an early header, and the visitors doubled their advantage when Ward smashed in the left-back's cross from the wing.

Dangerous

Watford continued to look dangerous and it was a fine run on the right from Smith that brought about the third after 45 minutes.

Having beaten three QPR defenders, the striker cut the ball back for Williamson to convert, leaving the visitors on their knees.

QPR's best chance fell to the returning Patrick Agyemang but he failed to hit the target with only the goalkeeper to beat after Hogan Ephraim's free kick had fooled the Watford defence.

Conscious of possessing the worst defensive record in the league, the hosts may have sought to protect their lead but they continued to push forward.

Smith flashed a fierce 20-yard drive over the bar and Priskin also went close.

The visitors were restricted to a long-range effort from Ephriam and their troubles were compounded when Hall was dismissed with ten minutes remaining for a bad challenge on substitute Will Hoskins.

The announcement of a £7million drop in profits had further darkened the mood around Vicarage Road during the week, but an emphatic win left their supporters on a high.