Queens Park Rangers endured a frustrating evening under new captain Joey Barton as they were held to a goalless draw by Newcaste.
Rangers debutants produce a display to leave their fans happy
Neil Warnock and his Queens Park Rangers endured a frustrating evening as they were held to goalless draw by Newcastle at Loftus Road.
Joey Barton was named captain before the game and was one of five Rangers debutants in their starting line-up.
Rangers created numerous chances in both the first and second half but were unable to break the deadlock in an entertaining match.
It was not the explosive encounter that the home fans would have wanted, but there were encouraging signs that the London side will be able to secure safety thanks to their raft of signings that followed Tony Fernandes' takeover.
The home fans were particularly impressed with Shaun Wright-Phillips, who proved to be a constant thorn in the visitors' side, while Armand Traore settled in comfortably before coming off with an injury in the first half.
Newcastle barely showed any attacking intent and still sorely lacked a goalscoring threat following the departure of Andy Carroll, but their unbeaten run remains intact four matches into the season.
All the pre-match hype surrounded Barton, making his debut against his former team, and Warnock upped the ante by naming him as skipper.
Wright-Phillips, signed from Manchester City on deadline day, proved to be the liveliest of the new signings in the opening half.
Traore impressed early on too, sweeping down the left before floating in an excellent cross that Wright-Phillips could only guide in to Tim Krul's hands.
Diving Save
Leon Best drew a good diving save from Paddy Kenny in the visitors' only opportunity of the opening period before the Hoops went on to stamp their authority on the game.
Wright-Phillips found Jay Bothroyd with a cross from the right wing, but the former Cardiff striker spooned a volley over from six yards.
Growing in confidence with every minute, Wright-Phillips skipped past his marker and fired a low shot into Krul's side-netting as the keeper scrambled across his line.
Another chance went by minutes later, with Wright-Phillips involved again. Adel Taarabt spun on the ball to lose his marker, released the former Chelsea man and he whipped a low ball across the box but Bothroyd slid in just too late to make contact.
Alejandro Faurlin's deflected shot flew just over after some good work down the right by Wright-Phillips.
The Magpies were then forced to clear off the line twice within the space of 11 minutes.
First, Bothroyd saw his powerful header cleared by the back-tracking Danny Simpson and Wright-Phillips then squirmed free from Fabricio Coloccini's sliding tackle before chipping over Krul, but Steven Taylor came to Newcastle's rescue, with a last-ditch clearance .
Newcastle began the second half much better, with Best providing a flick-on that just evaded a tap-in from Jonas Gutierrez at the back post.
Traore then suddenly pulled up with what looked like a thigh problem and was replaced by Matthew Connolly.
Golden Chance
Wright-Phillips had a golden to chance to put the Rs ahead eight minutes after the break when he broke loose in the area but he completely missed a volley at the back post from Faurlin's cross.
Gutierrez went down clutching his ankle after being caught by Shaun Derry's studs and needed treatment before returning to action.
Cheik Tiote clattered into Barton to earn a booking, much to the amusement of the travelling support.
Toon boss Alan Pardew decided to replace Ameobi with Demba Ba in the 64th minute as his side struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
QPR were still not producing the kind of attacking football they displayed in the first half though and their passing was sloppy at times.
Wright-Phillips then suddenly burst into life once more in the 70th minute, racing past his marker to cross for Bothroyd, but Steven Taylor dived in to clear with an important challenge.
Derry then wasted a glorious chance to head the home side in front when he nodded well wide from 12 yards when free in the box.
Gutierrez crashed a volley wide 15 minutes from time and the home crowd began to get restless at their side's fading performance.
Warnock looked to remedy the situation by bringing on DJ Campbell for Bothroyd with just over 10 minutes left while Pardew brought on Sylvain Marveaux for Best.
Wright-Phillips remained the hosts' biggest threat but could only smash a 25-yard shot just wide of Krul's goal as the clocked ticked towards 90 minutes.
More substitutions came from both sides but neither could break the deadlock and the game petered out in to a draw.
| Queens Park Rangers |
Team Statistics |
Newcastle United |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.1 |
Passing Success |
72.7 |
| 33 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 60.6 |
Tackles Success |
66.7 |
| 58.2 |
Possession |
41.8 |
| 54.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.8 |
|
