Queens Park Rangers vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance13,814.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium
Sunday 29 December 2019 18:32, UK
Jackson Irvine scored an 89th-minute winner as Hull came from behind to beat QPR 2-1 in the Championship.
Ilias Chair put Rangers ahead after 20 minutes at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, but goalkeeper Joe Lumley spilled Josh Bowler's cross just after the half-hour mark and George Honeyman was on hand to equalise.
And the defensive lapses which have plagued QPR this season were evident yet again when Irvine wandered in unchallenged to nudge Jarrod Bowen's free-kick past Lumley.
Chair opened the scoring with a low right-footed strike from near the left-hand edge of the penalty area following a short-corner routine involving Ryan Manning and Ebere Eze.
The home side then began to dominate and Stephen Kingsley, who later went off after picking up an injury, blocked Luke Amos' shot after the on-loan Tottenham youngster had been teed up by Nahki Wells.
Bright Osayi-Samuel then went close for Rangers, shooting over after cutting in from the right flank, before a cross by Amos was steered wide of the near post by Wells.
With their opponents seemingly in complete control of the game, Hull equalised out of nothing courtesy of Honeyman's first goal since joining from Sunderland during the summer.
Lumley, whose season has been blighted by a number of errors, should have gathered the ball in routine fashion but failed to do so and Honeyman was able to score from close range.
Lumley atoned somewhat when he dived to his right to push away a left-footed effort from former QPR academy player Bowler.
Hull keeper George Long also produced a fine save before the interval, pushing over Chair's shot after the midfielder had been put through by Amos.
The second half produced fewer clear-cut openings as both sides laboured.
Amos and Dominic Ball went close for Rangers, shooting wide of the target, while Tom Eaves headed Honeyman's right-wing cross wide just after coming on as a substitute.
QPR manager Mark Warburton sent on striker Jordan Hugill with 12 minutes remaining in an attempt to find a winner.
But the on-loan West Ham man was unable to capitalise when a chance came his way.
Eze found Wells, who sent in a low cross from the left which the stretching Hugill could not connect with.
Irvine, on the other hand, made no mistake, condemning QPR to a third defeat in four games.
QPR's Mark Warburton: "I'm minded to treat every player the same. The trouble with a goalkeeper is that everything they do is highlighted. If a striker misses a chance or a centre-half misses a header it's easier to say 'no problem'. Joe has pulled off a couple of wonderful saves recently and has been very, very good.
"He had a tough time earlier. I made a change (by selecting Kelly) earlier in the season and that's the right thing to do - to look after players and when I think the time is right, to change. You've got to be able to look any player in the eye and say 'This is why I'm doing it. I'm doing it for these reasons'. They're men and this is professional sport. It's about what the right decision is for the team and for the player as well. So I look at every player after every game and think about what's the right thing to do."
Hull's Grant McCann: "If the bids comes in I know they won't be going, it's as simple as that. We've been told that. We're not interested in selling in this window. We're only interested in trying to strengthen this group to have a serious push for promotion.
"We need to bring one or two in just to give the group a bit of help. We're churning the same players out every single week. We just need that bit of help, really to give the group a bit of a lift and for them to say 'I need to up my game here because there's serious competition'."
