Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Coventry City: Sky Blues slip up again as QPR hit back for victory
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers and Coventry City at Loftus Road on Saturday; Richard Kone and Nicolas Madsen score as Frank Lampard's league leaders are beaten in turnaround.
Saturday 31 January 2026 18:42, UK
Stuttering Coventry's grip at the top of the Championship loosened further as QPR came from behind to beat them 2-1 at Loftus Road.
Josh Eccles gave the Sky Blues an early lead but Rangers responded in the second half with Richard Kone's equaliser and Nicolas Madsen's winner.
Frank Lampard's side's are now level on points with second-placed Middlesbrough, whose win at home to Norwich was their fourth consecutive victory.
Coventry's sizeable lead being cut - they are now just five points clear of third-placed Hull, who have a game in hand - has been largely down to their poor away form.
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They have now gone eight away matches without a win - a run which has included five defeats.
They thumped QPR 7-1 in August, but Julien Stephan's team are much-improved since then and showed excellent resolve to claw their way back into the game as their opponents faded.
Danish midfielder Madsen, who is enjoying a fine season, was outstanding and played a major role in the turnaround.
Jack Rudoni missed an early chance for Coventry when he headed Tatsuhiro Sakamoto's cross over the bar.
After dominating the opening minutes, the visitors found themselves on the back foot and had to be rescued by a fine save from keeper Carl Rushworth, who did brilliantly to tip Kone's looping header onto the bar.
Rushworth also gathered a scuffed shot from Karamoko Dembele and an effort from Harvey Vale, and Kone fired into the side netting, during a strong spell for Rangers, who also appealed in vain for a penalty when Isaac Hayden went down under a challenge from Matt Grimes.
Having rode their luck in the first half, Coventry went ahead eight minutes into the second. They were helped by some dire QPR defending, with Eccles able to head in at the far post after being found unmarked by Rudoni's left-footed cross from the right flank.
But Rangers hit back with a 66th-minute equaliser - striker Kone's seventh goal of the season.
Vale played a clever pass out to the right to Madsen, who crossed low for Kone to nudge the ball past Rushworth from near the edge of the six-yard box.
And QPR went ahead seven minutes later. Again Vale was involved in the build-up, with Rushworth palming the former Chelsea man's low cross from the left towards Madsen, who lifted the ball into the roof of the net.
Vale also created a chance for substitute Daniel Bennie, who shot wide of the far post.
The managers
QPR's Julien Stephan:
"We knew before the game that we've had a lot of progress since August. For me this game showed the ambition and the character of this group. We played with fire, with desire and ambition.
"The players did a great performance today. It was a great performance in terms of quality and what they showed on the pitch offensively and defensively.
"It was also a great performance mentally - the character they showed when we conceded a goal. They played with desire and ambition to create danger offensively and had strong defensive organisation as well.
"If I had to sum up this game it was after we equalised, and Nico Madsen ran to get the ball and put it down in the middle immediately - not to be happy to score and to draw, but to want to give us the opportunity to win this game.
"That summed up very well the character and personality of the players."
Coventry's Frank Lampard:
"It has to be, because confidence in football is a thing. Up until the middle of December we were a very confident team, winning games, and it (losing) affects everybody, whether people want to admit that or not.
"But I know this group, I know what they've shown this season. I was the first one to say it (the lead) could be gone in a three-game week, and it took a month.
"So it's very clear now. It's in front of the players. We have two home games coming up, and the only way to go through any lack of confidence - if there is one - is to work and fight your way out of it.
"We must, absolutely, believe in ourselves now and believe the challenge is the games that are ahead of us and the potential is there to do something very special."
