Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Watford and QPR as Charlie Austin scored his 50th goal in a Rangers shirt and Albert Adomah scored the winner in a late comeback for Mark Warburton's men
Monday 1 February 2021 23:00, UK
Charlie Austin scored his 50th goal for QPR as Mark Warburton's men came from behind to beat Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road on Monday night.
Rangers dominated for much of the first half, and though they could have fallen behind when Francisco Sierralta hit the crossbar, they did so when Troy Deeney converted a penalty seven minutes after the break (52).
The visitors responded well to going behind and managed to restore parity when Austin headed in Chris Willock's cross (73) and, in the final minute of the game, Albert Adomah controlled Todd Kane's cross and stuck the winner beyond Hornets goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.
QPR's third win in four games moves them to 17th and seven points clear of the relegation zone, while Xisco Munoz's Watford drop to fifth, below Reading, as a result.
From the first whistle, a neutral viewer would have found it hard to distinguish which side was vying for promotion to the Premier League and which was just four points above the relegation zone, such was QPR's dominance of the ball.
Mark Warburton's men consistently worked the ball out to Kane on the right, who caused Watford problems with his crosses in search of Austin, which were - more often than not - kept from reaching the frontman by defender William Troost-Ekong.
Around half-an-hour in, though, the hosts won a succession of corners and with the second, almost made the breakthrough when Sierralta lost his marker and powered a header onto the crossbar with Rangers goalkeeper Seny Dieng scrambling.
Watford emerged with more fight after the break and were gifted the chance to take the lead when Geoff Cameron fouled Ismaila Sarr inside the area; Dieng barely moved an inch as Deeney thundered in a trademark spot-kick - his seventh goal of the season.
Given the fact Munoz's men had conceded just three goals in their last five league games, it looked as though QPR would have a mountain to climb, particularly when their opponents started to track back in numbers as the half progressed.
In fact, the chances started to follow. Macauley Bonne struggled to connect with a cross from either side of the six-yard box, while Kane looped a header narrowly wide, but with just under 17 minutes to play, Willock gave Nathaniel Chalobah the run around on the right flank and delivered a tempting cross that Austin headed into the ground and over the line.
The industry of substitute Ken Sema gave Watford hope of a late winner, yet it was Adomah who had the last laugh when he hooked Kane's cross into his path and coolly tucked the decisive second for QPR.
QPR boss Mark Warburton...
"His relationship with the fans, his relationship with the club is there for all to see. His impact on the young players is tremendous for us; that motivation before the game, talking in training, setting standards."
Watford's Xisco Munoz: "Today was a not-so-good performance and we need to continue, to understand what the mistakes are. I think today we didn't play with intensity and playing without intensity sometimes is a problem.
"We will try next week to give a better performance. I don't want excuses. It is my fault, it is my mistake. We played without intensity and I'm sure it's the first and the last time."
QPR's Mark Warburton: "I thought it was a well-deserved victory tonight. For the first 25-30 minutes we controlled it, we wanted to switch the play quickly and keep it simple, which we did. Then we were the masters of our own downfall, trying to complicate it and take too many touches. We weathered that storm in the second half, created chances and looked dangerous.
"Do the basics well and you can win games. Chris came on and showed great feet; he's got good trickery, it was a great delivery and we got the reward. We followed that up with that second goal, where we again looked dangerous and looked to play forward. You can sit back and take the 1-1 but the players wanted to win the game of football and they got their just rewards."
Both sides are next in action on Saturday, February 6. Watford host Coventry at Vicarage Road at 12.30pm - in a game live on Sky Sports Football - while QPR host Blackburn at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium later on at 3pm.
