West Bromwich Albion 1-4 QPR
QPR breathed new life into their Premier League survival bid by securing only their second away win of the season at West Bromwich Albion.
Eduardo Vargas opened the scoring, Charlie Austin added the second and Bobby Zamora cracked in a spectacular third in a stunning first-half display from Rangers.
Victor Anichebe pulled a goal back for West Brom on the stroke of the hour before Youssouf Mulumbu was sent off and Joey Barton finished the scoring at the Hawthorns.
It is a result which moves the Hoops up to 18th in the table, one point shy of Sunderland and safety, with the Black Cats not in action until tomorrow.
Chris Ramsey made just one change to the side that were beaten 2-1 by Everton before the international break as Vargas came in for Junior Hoilett.
Baggies boss Tony Pulis restored Chris Brunt to his starting XI after the winger completed his suspension while Brown Ideye came in to partner Saido Berahino up front.
The the recalled West Brom duo combined to create the first chance of the match with Brunt crossing for Ideye, however the striker’s header was off target.
But it was Rangers’ Vargas who justified his selection on 15 minutes as the Chilean took advantage of some sloppy defending and smashed past Boaz Myhill to break the deadlock.
His game was over on the half-hour though as he appeared to twist his knee down by the touchline and had to be replaced by Nico Kranjcar.
Kranjcar didn’t take long to make his presence felt and it was from his corner that the R’s found their second, Austin heading home to double the advantage.
Zamora sent the visitors into dreamland going into the half-time break with an absolutely stunning chip from what looked like an impossible angle.
Pulis must have been furious with his team in the dressing room and brought on Anichebe in place of Stephane Sessegnon for the second period.
The former Everton striker was all fired up and pulled one back for hosts shortly before the hour as he headed home a superb Berahino delivery from the left.
With 30 minutes left to go the Baggies had plenty of time left to claw back the lead and Barton has words with a few of his R’s team-mates to ensure they kept cool heads.
Instead, it was the Baggies who lost theirs when Mulumbu was shown a straight red card for an elbow on the QPR captain to leave the odds stacked in favour of Ramsey’s side.
And it was Barton who put the icing on the cake for the away side by adding a fourth goal with virtually the last kick of the game to make it a day to remember for Hoops fans.
The battle to beat the drop is well and truly on.
Queens Park Rangers: Green; Isla, Onuoha, Caulker, Suk-young (Hill, 82), Phillips, Sandro, Barton, Vargas (Kranjcar, 30), Austin, Zamora (Henry, 75).
Subs (not used): McCarthy, Sutherland, Hoilett, Doughty.
