Queens Park Rangers vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance13,713.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium
Sunday 2 February 2020 14:29, UK
Famara Diedhiou's 10th goal of the season gave in-form Bristol City a 1-0 victory at QPR.
It was a fourth consecutive league win and clean sheet for play-off chasing City, who are sixth in the Sky Bet Championship table and very much in the thick of the promotion race.
Rangers, on the other hand, are enduring a miserable spell and suffered a third defeat in their past four games.
Diedhiou scored after 16 minutes at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where he was a constant problem for the home defence.
Jack Hunt won a challenge against Ebere Eze near the right-hand edge of the halfway line and delivered a fine ball towards Diedhiou, who superbly headed beyond Liam Kelly and into the far corner of the net.
Keeper Kelly had earlier kept out a low shot from Diedhiou after the striker had evaded a couple of challenges and tried his luck from 20 yards out.
Rangers struggled to create chances before two came their way shortly before half-time. Grant Hall headed wide from Luke Amos' cross and Jordan Hugill sent a right-footed effort wide after being set up by Bright Osayi-Samuel.
The hosts improved after the interval and Eze shot wide before delivering a corner from which Conor Masterson went close with a far-post header.
Hugill went closest to equalising when his header from Eze's corner was cleared off the line by Nathan Baker.
The home fans' frustration was compounded by the sight of Nahki Wells coming on as a substitute for his Bristol City debut just after the hour mark.
Wells scored 14 goals this season while on loan at QPR, who wanted to sign him on a permanent deal but missed out when he was recalled by Burnley and sold to the Robins this week.
His departure left Hugill as Rangers' only viable option up front for the remainder of the campaign.
The on-loan West Ham striker worked hard but was well contained by the City defence, as was Eze.
Osayi-Samuel had some limited success, worrying the visitors' backline with his pace and directness.
However, he lacked composure in front of goal when an opportunity came his way, blasting high and wide from inside the box.
Hugill had a late header saved at point-blank range by keeper Daniel Bentley after being found by Eze's right-wing cross.
City remained a threat on the counter-attack and Kelly produced a smart save to deny Diedhiou a second goal.
QPR's Mark Warburton: ""The best thing is to be honest with the fans. There's no lack of ambition or desire to finish as high as we possibly can, but we can't afford to go and spend £3million, £4m or £5m on players. I had phone calls saying, 'Only on £25k a week. Only on £30k a week'. Come on. It's not our league.
"We had so many chances and so much of the ball and feel very frustrated right now. You saw the players' effort and quality, it was just that final bit of guile. It's about putting the ball in the back of the net."
Bristol City's Lee Johnson: "Nahki coming in is not offensive to any of our players. They can all play with him. The counter-balance is good - you can have the energy of Andy and Nahki up front or you can have the big man and small man or bring Nahki off the bench for the last half-hour like we did today.
"You want the competition. The competition is healthy and I never promise any player they can play every game. The truth is that they've got to perform and hold the shirt. It should be a heavy shirt. But it's not about that. We've got 18 or 19 players who have got to live like brothers for the last spell of the season."
