Ngbakoto stars in thrashing
QPR manager Ian Holloway was delighted with his side’s secondhalf showing as this comfortable victory all-but relegated beleaguered Rotherham United.
Goals from Matt Smith, Luke Freeman, Yeni N’Gbakoto, Massimo Luongo and Nedum Onuoha were enough to cancel out Joe Newell’s spectacular early leveller.
Holloway said: “I was delighted with the second-half performance but I didn’t enjoy the first-half at all.
“We scored early then thought we’d done enough. We didn’t move the ball sharply enough and didn’t press hard enough.
“I spoke about changes at half-time which stopped them playing long over the top of us and stop them pushing our back three deep so that we could play high enough. That meant we could win it and actually cause their back four the problems I felt that we could and in the end we got what we deserved.”
The deadlock was broken as early as the fifth minute when Smith latched onto a long ball from Idrissa Sylla to fire clincally past Lewis Price in the Rotherham goal.
The Millers were level in the 13th minute when Newell scored the goal of the game, striking a fantastic half-volley past Alex Smithies from 25 yards.
Two minutes later QPR were back in front when poor defnd-ing from the Rotherham centre-half pairing of Semi Ajayi and Aimen Belaid allowed Freeman to steal in and calmly roll the ball past Price.
The first half continued in a scrappy fashion with neither side managing to keep hold of the ball for long enough to create many chances.
Rangers were quick out of the blocks after Holloway’s half- time team talk, and had the opportunity to go further ahead from the spot four minutes into the second half when Belaid was adjudged to have climbed on Smith in the area. The impressive Ngbakoto stepped up to send Price the wrong way.
Eight minutes later the game was over as a contest when Luongo glaced Ngbakoto’s leftwing cross into the bottom corner of the net.
Substitute Conor Washington was unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet, seeing his rasping drive hit the foot of the post, and fellow replacement Ravel Morrison could only drag the follow-up wide.
But Rangers secured their biggest win of the season on the stroke of full-time with Onuoha ghosting in to convert from Ngbakoto's left-wing free-kick.
The final whistle couldn’t come soon enough for Rotherham boss Paul Warne, who witnessed his side lose a club record 29th league game of the season.
“I thought first half we were the better side, we frustrated them but gave away two howlers which meant that we went in at half-time behind,” said Warne, whose side are now 24 points from safety.
“I told them at half-time that I though our defending had been abysmal so to concede two goals so soon into the second half was very disappointing.
“You can tell that our boys are used to losing as I won’t say that they threw the towel in, but they were ready for the game to end from the 65th minute. It was an embarassing scoreline which was throughly deserved by QPR and my over-riding feeling is of embarrassment.”