NEWCASTLE
STEVE MCCLAREN hailed Luke Freeman’s dazzling display for QPR that dumped Ipswich on the bottom of the Championship table.
Freeman played a big part in both goals as Rangers gained a third away win of the season to equal their record in the whole of last term.
Mcclaren was aghast at the suggestion that his side’s 13th-minute opener should go down as an own-goal by home keeper Dean Gerken.
Freeman swung over the perfect corner that was dropping just under the crossbar in a crowded six-yard box.
Gerken made a huge clanger, flapping at the ball and only helping it on its way into the net.
Ex-england boss Mcclaren (below) said: “It’s Freeman’s goal in my book and he should get all the credit. It was going straight in.”
Rangers increased their lead in firsthalf stoppage time as Ipswich struggled to clear another expert delivery from Freeman. Eberechi Eze was about to pull the trigger when Toto Nsiala lunged in to upend him. Tomer Hemed, on loan from Brighton, sent Gerken the wrong way from the spot.
Mcclaren’s men almost increased their lead only seconds after the restart.
The effervescent Eze flicked the ball over Luke Chambers’ head but was denied by Gerken, who raced off his line to block.
Eze was close again when he lobbed Gerken from the edge of the box but the ball hit the bar.
The Tractor Boys had a miserable first half and weren’t much better after the break, only Grant Ward’s tame header straight into the arms of Joe Lumley causing any concern.
And Ipswich were booed off at the end with manager Paul Hurst still waiting to record a home win since taking charge in the summer.
Hurst said: “We’re obviously in a hole and I understand 100 per cent the fans’ frustration.
“But we are making it hard for ourselves with the mistakes we are making.” RAFA BENITEZ is now breaking the unenviable records that his much-maligned predecessor Steve Mcclaren set during his ill-fated spell in charge. That says everything about Newcastle’s predicament. Even Mcclaren managed a win at the ninth attempt three seasons ago – but for Benitez, the wait goes on. He has already become the first Magpies boss to lose the opening five home games of a season, and failure to win at Southampton next week will condemn the club to its worst start to a campaign since 1898-99. The Toon Army still don’t blame Benitez for the current mess, even though for the second successive home game, they jeered his substitution when he hooked Yoshinori Muto, rather than Ayoze Perez, for Joselu. And there was booing at the final whistle after a result which sent Newcastle tumbling to the foot of the table. Benitez may retain the fans’ backing, but owner Mike Ashley’s patience won’t last forever.
This was the fourth game in a row he has attended and in that time, Newcastle have picked up a solitary point.
What made this latest setback all the more galling was that it was against visitors who had forgotten how to win on their travels.
Brighton had gone 17 away games without a victory, prompting Benitez to announce before kick-off this was the perfect fixture to kick-start their season.
It wasn’t to be with Beram Kayal’s 29th-minute deflection earning Brighton boss Chris Hughton his first win at the club he led to promotion eight years ago.
Hughton said: “It is a big win for us and we really had to earn it.
“We were up against a side desperate to get a result and we faced a lot more shots than we normally would.
“It was a game where we had to put bodies on the line and I thought our keeper and centre-halves were outstanding.”
Perez, Newcastle’s top scorer last season, has yet to open his account