Barbet nets first of year

Kane missed an early sitter, it became clear that if a goal was going to come, Armstrong or Rangers’ tricky No.10 Ilias Chair would have something to do with it.

Armstrong saw Seny Dieng acrobatically tip over his 23rd-minute free-kick.

At the other end, Chair’s bag of shimmies, drag backs and delivery into the box had Rovers’ Jarrad Branthwaite desperately hacking clear.

Armstrong then hit the post with a deflected cross, teed-up Harvey Elliott who skied his shot, before driving inside three defenders only to drag his shot wide.

The playmakers kept up the pace after the break with Armstrong stinging the palms of Dieng, while Chair’s trickery paved the way for a Charlie Austin strike which was blocked by Lewis Travis.

Moments later Chair’s corner caused havoc, with Barbet owning the decisive touch after the ball pinballed around the Rovers box.

Armstrong was denied a leveller by Dickie’s outstanding block after Dieng palmed out Sam Gallagher’s volley.

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray said: “It is hard to take when your goalie does not make a save and you lose 1-0.

“After the first 20 minutes we were quite dominant for the rest of the game but you have to score goals when you are on top.”

QPR BLACKBURN 2 ........ Shots on Target ......... 7 5 ........ Shots off Target ......... 6 5 ................ Corners ................. 7 17 ................. Fouls ................... 11 4 ............... Offsides ................. 3 64 ...... Passing Success % .... 70.1 342 ....... Total Passes ........ 384 46.8 .... Possession % ..... 53.2 51 ...... Territorial Adv % ..... 49