Swansea City have started their Premier League campaign in style after comprehensively beating QPR 5-0 at Loftus Road.
Michu on target twice in 5-0 win at Loftus Road
Swansea City have started their Premier League campaign in style after comprehensively beating Queens Park Rangers 5-0 at Loftus Road.
Michu marked his debut in English football with two goals, and Nathan Dyer also found the target twice before Scott Sinclair netted the Swans' fifth of the afternoon with nine minutes remaining on the clock.
Michael Laudrup's side went ahead after just eight minutes when QPR goalkeeper Rob Green failed to fend off Michu's shot from distance, and could have gone 3-0 up by half-time had Chico and Michu's efforts not bounced off the crossbar.
However, the 26-year-old attacker found his second of the afternoon in the 53rd minute with a glorious curling effort, and it was followed by a quick brace from Dyer.
Sinclair added the cherry on the cake on 81 minutes when he etched his name on the scoresheet just minutes after coming on as a substitute, as Laudrup celebrated his first competitive victory in charge of the Welsh club.
Swansea included three debutants in their starting line-up and it took just eight minutes for one of them to make an indelible mark.
The Swans broke forward after an end-to-end start and Michu collected a loose ball to hit home a low shot from 22 yards.
However, as well as Michu struck the ball, much of the blame falls on QPR goalkeeper Rob Green as he let the long-range strike squeeze into the corner when it looked easier to save.
QPR domination
Another Swansea debutant to make an important early impact was defender Chico, who cleared off the line after Michel Vorm fumbled a close-range Jamie Mackie shot.
It was the first of a flurry of QPR chances as Junior Hoilett then wriggled down the left, cut inside and unleashed a right-foot strike that went just wide of the far post.
Mark Hughes' side continued to press with Adel Taarabt and Fabio next to get shots away, before Hoilett rose highest to meet a cross from the latter.
The former Blackburn Rovers man's header went just wide and Taarabt followed it up moments later with a fierce drive that was easily dealt with by Vorm.
However, the Swansea goalkeeper had to do much better to thwart the Morocco international's next attempt, which had looked set for the bottom right-hand corner.
For all of QPR's attacking endeavour, though, they looked shaky at the back as the first half came to a close.
First Jonathan de Guzman, another of Swansea's summer signings, fired an ambitious 35-yard free-kick that forced Green to scurry across his goal and palm wide.
Chico rattled the crossbar with a header from the resulting corner, before Michu hit the goal frame in a penalty-box melee at another corner.
Second-half riot
Half-time allowed QPR boss Mark Hughes to give his side a pep talk but it did not work as Swansea went on to run riot.
After Hoilett saw a penalty appeal waved away during a bright QPR start, Michu doubled Swansea's advantage eight minutes into second period.
Wayne Routledge ran at the home defence and passed to the former Rayo Vallecano man, who - despite being unbalanced - curled a superb left-footed strike into the top corner.
That was just the start of it for the Rs as they fell further behind 10 minutes later, with Dyer collecting the ball in space and slotting home past Green.
And in the 71st minute Michael Laudrup's side boasted a four-goal cushion as substitute Kemy Agustien fired a great ball over to Dyer, who showed good control and then slotted home from close range.
The home fans were stunned into silence and things got worse as the visitors made it 5-0 in the 81st minute.
The QPR defence were all over the place and substitute Scott Sinclair found space to fire home in front of the Loft End to wrap up maximum points for the Welsh club.
| Queens Park Rangers |
Team Statistics |
Swansea City |
| 0 |
Goals |
5 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 9 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 5 |
Corners |
3 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 87.2 |
Passing Success |
87.9 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
19 |
| 78.9 |
Tackles Success |
73.7 |
| 50.1 |
Possession |
49.9 |
| 64.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
35.7 |
| 422 |
Total Passes |
430 |
| 25 |
Total Crosses |
9 |
| 125 |
Lost Balls |
133 |
| 48 |
Recoveries |
62 |
| 48.3 |
1st Half Poss. |
51.7 |
| 50.8 |
2nd Half Poss. |
49.2 |
|
