QPR exit FA Cup as Sheffield Wednesday beat Championship rivals to seal last-16 berth

1/17
Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_24 January 2020

QPR were made to pay for a horrendous lapse in concentration as they were dumped out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 to Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

Morgan Fox’s first-half goal, coming after the Rs had switched off at a throw-in deep in their own territory, gave the visitors the lead before Sam Winnall’s stoppage-time effort confirmed the visitors' place in round five, even after substitute Nahki Wells had nabbed an even later consolation for the hosts.

Mark Warburton made seven changes to the side that had beaten Leeds here in the Championship last weekend, handing a first Rangers start to Tottenham loanee Jack Clarke, while Jordan Hugill returned to lead the line, having scored both goals in the 2-1 league win at Hillsborough back in August.

There was no reunion for former Rs man Massimo Luongo, available for selection after his red card in the 5-0 hammering at the hands of Blackburn last weekend was rescinded, but left out of Monk’s matchday squad.

Sam Hutchinson created the first real opening of the game with a stunning raked ball in behind for Jacob Murphy, but Joe Lumley made a routine near-post stop, while Marc Pugh drilled wide at the other end after good work from Dominic Ball and Ilias Chair.

It was the 3,000 travelling Wednesday fans who had something to cheer on the stroke of half-time, though so passive was the home side’s defending that it took them a moment or two to register what had happened.

With Clarke caught napping, a quick Wednesday throw left full-back Fox in on goal from the angle, and in seeming disbelief he hesitated before poking a tame effort at Lumley, which the equally stunned QPR stopper let squirm right through him.

The second period brought no improvement in quality from Rangers in the final third, and as the hour mark came and went Cameron Dawson had still not had a save to make in the Wednesday goal.

The hosts finally mustered their first shot on target on 66 minutes as Ebere Eze side-footed straight at Dawson, while Bright Osayi-Samuel replaced the ineffective Clarke.

The new man had an instant impact, first teeing up Todd Kane, who skewed wide, before feeding Chair, whose effort was more well-struck but had the same end result.

Hugill then wasted QPR’s best chance of the night, controlling nicely from Kane’s terrific early cross, only to bundle beyond the far post, before Wells was finally sent into the fray, replacing Chair.

Eze twice went close, his first effort denied by a heroic block from Fox and a second easily saved by Dawson as he went for placement on his weaker foot. Lumley then almost gifted Wednesday a clincher with some sloppy footwork at the other end.

Winnall’s breakaway goal all-but wrapped up the win, but Wells at least gave the scoreline a fairer reflection of the game’s balance by capitalising on a late clanger from Dawson.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in