Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion at Loftus Road as Kyle Bartley headed the Baggies to victory in west London on Saturday.
Saturday 5 November 2022 19:04, UK
Kyle Bartley's goal gave West Brom a second successive victory under boss Carlos Corberan with a 1-0 triumph at QPR.
The Baggies, who beat Blackpool in midweek to give the recently-appointed Corberan his first win since taking over, produced a resolute performance at Loftus Road, where Bartley headed home John Swift's 68th-minute free-kick.
Swift delivered the ball from the right and centre-back Bartley rose above Leon Balogun to break the deadlock.
Albion remain in the bottom three but look much-improved under Corberan, who has made a quick impact.
Rangers, on the other hand, have stumbled since recently enjoying a brief spell at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table.
Boss Mick Beale, who turned down the chance to take over as Wolves manager, has seen his side fail to win - or score - in their past three matches.
They looked disjointed from the start against an Albion team which worked hard to successfully stifle Rangers talisman Chris Willock, who returned to action after a hamstring injury.
Grady Diangana inexplicably missed a golden early chance to put Albion ahead following an error by Rob Dickie, who gave the ball straight to Jayson Molumby.
After Molumby's shot was pushed out by keeper Seny Dieng to Diangana near the edge of the six-yard box, the Albion forward was left with an open goal but failed to connect properly and Rangers were given a huge let-off.
Dickie struggled in the opening stages and his fellow defenders Balogun and Kenneth Paal also gave the ball away in dangerous areas during the opening quarter of an hour.
Swift then saw his shot deflected wide of the target after being teed up by Diangana as the visitors continued to threaten.
QPR found some rhythm later in the first half and their on-loan Aston Villa youngster Tim Iroegbunam narrowly fired wide of the near post before Albion keeper Alex Palmer kept out Lyndon Dykes' low shot.
But West Brom defended well after the interval and were able to protect their lead after Bartley's goal, while also causing their opponents problems on the counter-attack.
Ilias Chair went close to equalising when his shot flashed narrowly wide, and Rangers appealed in vain for a penalty, claiming that Albert Adomah was impeded by Conor Townsend as he tried to meet Paal's left-wing cross.
QPR's Mick Beale: "It was a tough game. West Brom are in a false position and I think we all realise that. With Carlos going in there I expect them to pick up. I thought they defended really well. mThey started stronger than us, then we grew into the game and were good but without that cutting edge in the final third.
"I said to the players at half-time that the game would come down to a big moment. We had a number of set-plays and then lost to one ourselves. It was a tight game. We were the better side for spells but we were never dominant in it and then Kyle has come up with a big goal for them, which is hugely disappointing and frustrating for us."
West Brom's Carlos Corberan: "Before I came here I knew how important Bartley is and how important he has been for the club. My target is to recover the best of him because he is one of the best centre-backs in the league
"I cannot tell you one player that didn't play with the level and commitment that was demanded of them. In football, in the end you have three options to score a goal: possessional attacks, counter-attacks and set-pieces. The more you dominate these moments, the more you are going to be an offensive team and you are going to be dangerous and score goals."
