Queens Park Rangers vs Milton Keynes Dons. The FA Cup Third Round.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance6,314.
Saturday 6 January 2018 19:25, UK
Ousseynou Cisse scored the winning goal as League One MK Dons knocked Sky Bet Championship side QPR out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory at Loftus Road.
Cisse scored on the hour mark courtesy of a mistake by Rs midfielder Josh Scowen.
Scowen chased a misplaced pass from team-mate Grant Hall and by nudging the ball away from the right-hand touchline in order to keep it in play, he inadvertently sent Cisse through on goal.
Cisse took full advantage, shooting beyond 'keeper Alex Smithies and into the far corner of the net - the Mali international's first goal in English football.
QPR boss Ian Holloway named virtually his strongest side and they dominated most of the game, although they did have an early let-off when Robbie Muirhead's left-footed strike hit the post after taking a deflection off defender Jack Robinson.
Holloway, who has now lost seven of his last eight FA Cup third-round ties as a manager, had to make an early change when Alex Baptiste went off after 10 minutes, having landed awkwardly while attempting an acrobatic effort on goal.
Nevertheless, the Hoops were well on top before Cisse's goal.
Cisse was arguably fortunate not to concede a first-half penalty when he barged Paul Smyth over in the box as the forward was trying to get to the loose ball after Matt Smith's aerial challenge on 'keeper Lee Nicholls.
Rangers were heavily reliant on high balls to target man Smith, who failed to connect with a Luke Freeman cross and had other chances before Scowen's mistake gifted the visitors the lead.
QPR continued to press after going behind and thought they had equalised when Robinson's long throw-in ended up in the net, but Smith was adjudged to have impeded Nicholls.
Ed Upson then cleared off the line to deny Freeman during a goalmouth scramble, and Smith headed over from Jake Bidwell's cross.
Smith also saw a far-post header from Freeman's right-wing corner saved by Nicholls in injury time.
And with the final kick of the game, Freeman scooped a free-kick over the bar, sealing Rangers' fate and the Dons' place in the fourth round.
QPR boss Ian Holloway bemoaned the farcical mistake which led to the goal.
"To play it square and then to keep it in when it's going out, I can't believe it," he said. "That ball is a package. You give it to one of the QPR lads and tell him where you want it.
"You don't ever take a package to the post office without putting a message on it where it's got to go, do you?
"Unfortunately that's cost us. It should have been 0-0, we'd still be in the cup and this would be a result. But we passed their forward clean through and he scored. Am I happy? No."
MK Dons boss Robbie Neilson praised his players but insisted next Saturday's league game against AFC Wimbledon is much more important.
"I'm delighted for the players, the fans, the owners and the whole club," said Neilson. "Hopefully we can use today's game and the togetherness to carry us through to AFC next week.
"It was a great result for us and we're going into the next round but it means nothing because the game next week is even bigger.
"We play AFC Wimbledon next week and it's the biggest game of the season for us. A cup run builds momentum and builds spirit and gives the fans a day out."
