Queens Park Rangers vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance12,179.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium
Saturday 7 December 2019 18:58, UK
Ebere Eze scored both goals in a 2-0 victory for QPR over Preston, who dropped out of the Sky Bet Championship play-off places after a fourth straight defeat.
The win was Rangers' first in eight matches - and the clean sheet their first of the season.
Eze put them ahead after 17 minutes and doubled their lead with a penalty midway through the second half.
The opener came when Geoff Cameron opened up the Preston defence with a superb ball forward and Eze netted at the second attempt after his first effort was saved by keeper Declan Rudd.
Eze had plenty left to do after Rudd's stop but the England U21 international showed great composure to steer the ball past Preston's Ben Pearson.
Rangers continued to have the upper hand and could have extended their lead before the interval.
Marc Pugh's shot was saved by Rudd before Jordan Hugill, playing against his former club, fired over after being set up by Nahki Wells' knockdown.
Rudd was called into action again soon after the break, this time to save another shot from Eze.
With his team struggling to create chances, Preston boss Alex Neil sent on three attacking players - Billy Bodin, David Nugent and Josh Harrop - early in the second half.
However, his team fell further behind after 67 minutes when Eze tucked away the resulting spot-kick after Pugh had been tripped by Rudd.
The goals took Eze's tally for the season to nine and further enhanced the forward's growing reputation. He was given a standing ovation by the home crowd when substituted with a couple of minutes remaining.
Preston, meanwhile, are struggling badly and have failed to score in all four of their consecutive losses.
They had been something of a bogey side for QPR, having won the previous six meetings between the two clubs.
But it was a different story this time and North End, who have scored just six away goals this season, rarely looked like mounting a comeback once Rangers had gone ahead.
They would have pulled a goal back late on but for a fine save from keeper Joe Lumley, who dived to push away Bodin's powerful strike and ensure his team's long wait for a shutout finally ended.
Rangers threatened late in the game as well, with Hugill shooting over and Grant Hall's cross just evading Cameron.
QPR boss Mark Warburton: "Joe Lumley is 24 and in goalkeeping terms that's very young still. These guys take a lot of abuse on social media which I think is outrageous - he's come through a couple of mistakes and showed his quality. He was outstanding for us today.
"He's learned from his mistakes, has stepped up, the crowd supported him and I'm delighted. The save he made late on was world-class."
Preston boss Alex Neil: "I think it's natural for the boys to get themselves a little bit down. We just need to shake that off because the simple fact is you're going to go through these spells.
"It's not as if we're expected to go and win 80% of our games. There will be sticky spells. I think every one we've had since I've been here has been when we've had people missing. We need to come out the other side. We need to go and get points on the board."
