Queens Park Rangers vs Reading. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance16,057.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between QPR and Reading at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium as Lyndon Dykes scored twice in a comfortable win for Mark Warburton's side.
Saturday 29 January 2022 18:31, UK
QPR thrashed Reading 4-0 to boost their promotion hopes and pile more pressure on Royals boss Veljko Paunovic.
Lyndon Dykes scored twice and there were also goals for Luke Amos and Jimmy Dunne as fourth-placed Rangers made it five wins and a draw from their past six matches.
The victory left the west London side just two points behind second-placed Blackburn with a game in hand.
Reading, however, are struggling near the relegation zone and have now gone nine games without a win.
Their defensive shortcomings were evident again - Paunovic's team have conceded 55 goals in 28 matches - and the travelling fans angrily chanted for the Serbian to go as the threat of relegation to League One looms.
Rangers went ahead in the 13th minute, somewhat against the run of play.
Amos shrugged off Josh Laurent and delivered a perfect cross from the right for an unchallenged Dykes to head home from the edge of the six-yard box.
The goal came shortly after former QPR youngster Laurent appealed in vain for a penalty after going down under a challenge from Dunne.
Reading had started well, with George Puscas shooting wide early on and R's keeper David Marshall producing a fine save to push away Lucas Joao's header from John Swift's right-wing free-kick.
But Rangers took total control of the game after Dykes' opener and Amos hit the post with a 25-yard strike before two goals in as many minutes sent the hosts in at half-time three up.
They doubled their lead when Dykes' header from Albert Adomah's 35th-minute cross ricocheted into the net off the head of luckless Reading defender Tom Holmes.
Worse followed for the beleaguered visitors when Amos started and finished a QPR counter-attack, galloping almost the length of the pitch to make it three.
Following a Reading corner, Amos collected the ball deep in his own half, found Chris Willock and sprinted forward.
Willock showed great footwork to evade a challenge and send through the former Tottenham midfielder Amos, who fired past keeper Luke Southwood from the left-hand side of the penalty area.
Dunne added the fourth six minutes into the second half when he headed in Stefan Johansen's left-wing corner.
Marshall denied Reading a consolation goal by brilliantly keeping out Joao's header and Southwood denied Dykes a hat-trick by tipping over the Scotland striker's volley.
Southwood also saved from substitute George Thomas in the closing stages.
QPR's Mark Warburton: "[Amos has ] played in the Premier League for Spurs and then had two cruciate injuries. That could destroy many players, but he's come back. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and has a weight on his shoulders sometimes - one loose pass and he's kicking himself because he wants to do well. That's his desire. Today the message to Luke was just to go and play and enjoy it - enjoy being a good player, which is what he is.
"He won tackles, broke forward, got a goal and hit the post. It was an all-action performance, which he's capable of. There's a really good player there and as long as he believes in how good he can be and enjoys playing football we'll benefit from that."
Reading's Veljko Paunovic: "It's obviously difficult to hear that, especially when you're here to do your best and try to help with all the difficulties we have in our club that are not their fault, or mine. It's normal to blame people. I can handle it and deal with it, but I came here to fix a situation that was already difficult.
"We managers are always questioned when results are not coming. I understand that perfectly and have to deal with it because it's part of my job. It's also my job to change things by getting on a winning track as soon as possible. I'm not concerned about my future. I'm looking to fix things and do my best here."
