Dean Display Leaves R's Feeling Blue....

Last night a football feast was served at Loftus Road as QPR played host to the Champions of England and out of sorts Man City. Could the R's build on last weeks spirited performance at Stamford Bridge and give another one of the countries 'top teams' a good run for their money?

The gang arrived at an extremely wet Loftus Road in plenty of time, with most of us opting to stay in the warmth of our cars until the 3pm kick offs had finished before making our way into the ground and running for shelter, whilst Jess had to make do with the concourse of the West Paddock for as long as possible before being sat in the rain for the entirety of the game. The gang were already huddled under cover in the Lower Loft when I arrived with Lofty, Sam, Luke, Jenson, Lorna and Zach reliving an adventurous weekend that had just passed for Zach after a fancy dress party saw him dressed up as Zippy before later in the evening being photographed with his friend dressed in a Bungle costume taking him from the rear, something Zach wanted to keep quiet yet felt he could trust showing us the photo of the event. It's safe to say that he didn't walk up the stairs very comfortably and was still feeling the after effects of it all......

Just one change was made to the side that was unfortunate to lose at Chelsea last week with Zamora taking Hoilett's place.



Those in attendance held a minutes silence in tribute to those that unfortunately lost their lives 100 years ago in World War One, giving their lives to ensure we could have a better tomorrow.



Rangers' started the game with all guns blazing and full of confidence after last weekend and had the ball in the back of the net in the opening ten minutes. Vargas' pinpoint cross was met by Charlie Austin as he placed his header past Joe Hart to send Loftus Road into raptures.......... only to see the goal chalked off (and rightly so) for offside.
From the resulting free kick Hart fluffed his kick as it fell to the feet of Austin and he drilled home a 25 yard shot, again the place erupted!!!!! The goal was disallowed once again to the dismay of the R's players and fans alike! Jenson was all over social media after the goal and we were told that Hart had kicked the ball twice in his clearance and was the reason behind the goal being ruled out. Cheated is the polite way of describing how we felt and were more than ready for more controversy as yet another Premier League Official was doing his best to protect one of England's big four, just as we witnessed against Chelsea last week!
Five minutes later and that man Austin forced Hart into a fantastic save after seeing his close range effort pushed around the post when it seemed a certainty that he would finally put the R's one up, he wasn't to be denied for much longer though!
With 20 on the clock the R's scored their third goal of the evening and this time Mike Dean could not disallow it!
Isla's cross from the right wing found Austin in space inside the penalty area and Charlie controlled the ball before placing his shot in the bottom left corner, leaving Hart with no chance! Austin ran to the corner to do the funky chicken as he scored his first hat trick on home soil, it's a shame the history books will never show that (especially as I bet on it at 150/1!).



City slowly gained more composure as the game wore on as their patient passing was mainly ineffective, however when Toure curled one inches wide, nearly knocking out a young supporter in the process, you had that feeling a big chance was just around the corner.
That chance came just after the half hour when a simple ball over the top found Aguero running past the R's defence before then slotting past Green with City's first clear cut chance of the game. The goal had a suspicion of handball about it, which was confirmed in Green's protests after the goal and then on the replay we could clearly see Aguero had not only handballed but was also in an offside position!! How many times will these officials screw us over?? The mad thing is that Redknapp would get fined for speaking out against them yet they never come out and apologise or acknowledge their mistakes, instead they get continue to get protected when they cost teams valuable points and potentially managers their jobs. More should be done to get these refs to discuss these decisions whilst also making the so called third officials that do sod all apart from flag for the occasional offside and duck out of making any of the big decisions that often lead to goals being scored and conceded.
Just before the break Hart was once again on song as he denied Austin his second goal of the game, surely the R's number nine was impressing Roy Hodgson who was in attendance?



We went into the second half feeling very aggrieved to not be leading after seeing the R's score three times and Aguero's handball/offside goal level things up. What was even more frustrating was the fact that of the five fouls conceded by the R's, four were deemed as bookable offenses, however similar challenges from the visitors were apparently not worthy of a caution! Another reason why Mike Dean was labelled as 'inept' by Gary Neville during commentary and that man always talks sense!!

The second half started with Barton taking the place of Sandro after the Brazilian had been struggling with his hamstring for the final ten minutes of the first half. A blow for us as he has been immense with Henry in the heart of the midfield and was keeping Yaya Toure very quiet all game, it was now up to Barton to match this work ethic to keep us on track against his former club.
City started the brighter of the teams in the opening exchanges of the second half but ten minutes in the R's had the ball in the back of the net again..... and yes you guessed it, it was disallowed again as Vargas has strayed marginally offside before tapping home.
City continued to probe, however the R's came close once again after Dunne's left wing cross found Vargas on the edge of the area before the Chilean volleyed towards goal and then Caulker diverted it via his thigh just wide of the post.
With fifteen minutes remaining the R's took the lead once again. Vargas and Austin combined down the right before Austin's teasing cross was met by the head of Zamora (or Demichelis' shoulder after seeing the replay) and we were looking like we were going to reap the rewards of an amazing performance.



Minutes after Zamora's goal it was Aguero who found himself clean through on goal only to see his shot stopped by Dunne two yards short of the goal line.
That man Aguero wasn't to be denied another moment of glory though after Yaya Toure's long ball from just inside the City half floated over Dunne's head as Aguero collected, rounded Rob Green and then placed home past the three R's defenders who got back but could not deny the Argentinian his second goal of the evening.

If we had been offered a point before the game we would all of happily taken it, however after seeing that performance last night you cannot help but feel gutted. It was another fantastic performance by a great bunch of lads and yet again we gave Man City the game of their lives at Loftus Road.
To a man you cannot fault any performance out there and if we continue playing in this way then you can only see the points tally rise as we now have an 'easier' run of games now we have the Liverpool, Chelsea and City games, which were three of the last four played.

The Man of the Match saw a near clean sweep after just Lorna voted for Vargas but the remaining votes from Jess, Lofty, Sam, Luke, PK, Jenson and myself went to Charlie Austin.



The International break is now upon us but Lofty will return with what will be an action packed report following the trip to Newcastle that he and Jenson will be taking.

Keep the Faith!!!