MURRAY HAS BRIGHTON FANS ROCKING
THIS was another small step towards Brighton’s giant leap into the Premier League. The 3,200-plus away contingent at Loftus Road sang with gusto throughout about reaching the top flight and they know they are tantalisingly close. Three more wins will seal it. As has been the case so often this season, it was Glenn Murray who showed them the way. His 21st goal of Brighton’s terrific season arrived early in the second half. He started the move near halfway, played an exquisite one-two with Tomer Hemed and raced clear to finish in the bottom left corner. Six minutes later, Murray drew a foul from Joel Lynch right on the edge of the area. Up stepped Sebastien Pocognoli and curled a delightful shot into the top corner. It was certainly an impressive way to open your scoring account for a club, offering Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Alex Smithies no chance of saving it. This burst of goals got the job done for Brighton and moved them back to the top of the table, at least until Newcastle United play at Sheffield Wednesday this evening. More importantly, they are now 12 points ahead of third-placed Huddersfield Town and you could almost hear the sighs of resignation in West Yorkshire when the two goals went in. This two-goal burst enlivened a game that had failed to live up to its billing before half-time. Brighton had seen two goals correctly disallowed, the only points of interest in an opening half between two sides who looked weary having played just three nights ago. First, Murray turned home Anthony Knockaert’s clever cross from the left and was standing offside despite his finger-wagging protestations. Then, Hemed slid in to turn home Pocognoli’s long-range drive but the flag was again correctly raised. In a bid to counter fatigue, QPR boss Ian Holloway made seven changes and handed a first start to Ravel Morrison since he returned on loan from Lazio. Supposedly the creative spark in an experimental 3-5-2 formation, he offered next to nothing and was taken off in the second half. QPR had threatened intermittently in the first period, with Conor Washington firing just over the bar, and they gave themselves hope with 15 minutes left when Matt Smith headed in from a corner. Brighton held on, though. Over to you, Newcastle. JODIE TAYLOR hit an outrageous breakthrough goal in Mark Sampson’s 50th game in charge, but wasted many chances against fellow Euro 2017 finalists Italy.
England went ahead in the 70th minute through Taylor, but Italy levelled three minutes later after Valentina Cernoia’s neat finish.
The first half saw an horrific injury for Italy’s Alice Parisi, who came off worse in a 50/50 clash with Millie Bright.
She required oxygen and left the field on a stretcher after suffering a suspected broken leg.