Ipswich heap misery on Hoops

Norris: On the mark

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QPR fans vented their anger towards owner Flavio Briatore after watching their side crash to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town at Loftus Road.

Briatore was booed as he left his seat in the directors' box as Rangers, who have now lost four league matches in succession, slipped two points off the relegation zone.

The Italian failed to re-emerge for the second half after watching his side fall 2-0 behind in the opening 45 minutes, and missed an improved display from the hosts which saw Jay Simpson pull a goal back.

But Rangers remain in freefall as first-half goals from David Norris and Daryl Murphy ultimately condemned them to their fifth home defeat.

They have not kept a clean sheet since mid-October - some 20 matches and three bosses ago.

Ipswich, by contrast, are steadily improving after their horror start to the season, although they could not have picked more accommodating opposition to hand them only their second away win this term.

Rangers came close to conceding after just two minutes, but on-loan Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme did well to keep out Gareth McAuley's header.

Inevitable

But Ipswich did not have to wait long to take the lead, and it was another soft goal to add to Rangers' collection.

Norris was invited shoot from the edge of the area with no defender showing any inclination to close him down, and his effort deflected off Kaspars Gorkss and into the net.

Town should have doubled their advantage in the 20th minute when Ikeme clawed out Norris' free header, but Pablo Counago could only stab the rebound wide.

Murphy was next to try his luck when a clever backheel from Jon Walters found him in front of goal but he could not hit the target.

But Ipswich were carving Rangers open at will and eight minutes before the break the inevitable second arrived.

Norris' square pass into the area could have been converted by any one of three Town players but it was Murphy who stepped up unchallenged to tuck the ball past Ikeme.

After the interval, and Briatore's departure, Ipswich failed to deal with Lee Cook's driven ball into the box and Simpson lashed home the loose ball to pull a goal back.

Norris should have restored Ipswich's two-goal cushion but he put David Healy's cross wide.

Roy Keane's men got a bad case of the jitters as the final whistle approached but Rangers could not find a way through and, far from the widely-predicted promotion push this season, will soon find themselves in the thick of the relegation battle.