QPR get survival boost

Goals from Joey Barton, Jamie Mackie and Akos Buzsaky saw Queens Park Rangers ease to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Swansea City.

Rangers defeat Swansea 3-0 at home

Goals from Joey Barton, Jamie Mackie and Akos Buzsaky saw Queens Park Rangers ease to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Swansea City at Loftus Road on Wednesday and increase their chances of Premier League survival. Barton broke the deadlock for the Hoops on the stroke of half-time after an even first 45 minutes, and then Mackie's deflected effort in the 55th minute saw them go 2-0 up. Mark Hughes' side were completely dominant in the second half, and Buzsaky's terrific goal on 67 minutes wrapped up maximum points for the relegation strugglers.

First-half action

QPR dominated the opening minutes, with Buzsaky firing an exquisitely-struck volley inches wide from 20 yards. However, Swansea soon established a foothold on proceedings and began playing their much-vaunted possession football, leading to chants of "boring, boring Swansea". The home side were not looking quite as composed on the ball but were looking the more dangerous attacking threat, with Mackie forcing Michel Vorm into a quick reaction save before play was halted for offside. Swansea's biggest threat seemed to be from set-pieces and only a goal-line clearance from Barton prevented them breaking the deadlock in the 15th minute. Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner from the right was directed goalwards by Steven Caulker and Scott Sinclair looked set to poke home, before Barton intervened. Vorm held a stinging Adel Taarabt effort, before Mackie collected a lay-off from Bobby Zamora six yards out but shot straight at the goalkeeper. Clint Hill did superbly to block Sinclair from close range, before QPR had calls for a penalty rejected at the other end. Buzsaky's drive appeared to strike Ashley Williams' elbow, although Lee Probert dismissed the appeals for a spot-kick before Zamora flashed over from the resulting corner. One minute of stoppage time was added at the end of the first half, which proved just enough time for QPR to break the deadlock. Taarabt's free-kick from the right was headed out straight into Barton's path, who controlled excellently before firing home.

QPR's second-half dominance

Aside from a parried Joe Allen effort, though, the visitors struggled to cope with QPR's tempo and fell further behind in the 55th minute. Anton Ferdinand played through Mackie, who rolled his marker and saw his left-footed effort from the edge of the box deflect in off Rangel, wrong-footing goalkeeper Vorm. Mackie appeared to be in an offside position but QPR certainly were not complaining, with their luck continuing three minutes later when Danny Graham failed to prod home with the goal gaping. The hosts were again counting their blessings in the 61st minute when Hill put a clearing header over his own bar with several Swansea players waiting in the box with intent. Any doubt over the result was ended in the 67th minute when the ever-impressive Buzsaky collected the ball 30 yards from goal and struck a piledriver past Vorm. Nedum Onuoha would have joined him on the scoresheet three minutes later but for a late block preventing him turning home after fine work from Zamora.

Queens Park Rangers	Team Statistics	Swansea City
3	Goals	0
1	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	2
8	Shots off Target	3
4	Blocked Shots	6
6	Corners	9
10	Fouls	9
1	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
81.3	Passing Success	87.2
16	Tackles	16
81.2	Tackles Success	87.5
40.2	Possession	59.8
62.6	Territorial Advantage	37.4
358	Total Passes	538
22	Total Crosses	24
133	Lost Balls	147
53	Recoveries	53
33.7	1st Half Poss.	66.3
47.5	2nd Half Poss.	52.5