HOOPS HIT BACK AND SLAVISA SLAMS SLOPPY COTTAGERS
Record run no relief to manager
SLAVISA Jokanovic slammed his side’s sloppy errors as Fulham threw away a two-goal lead to see their hopes of automatic promotion fade in the west London derby.
Goals from Tom Cairney and Lucas Piazon seemed to have them on course but Rangers hit back through Massimo Luongo before the break.
Pawel Wszolek then punished a horrendous error from Denis Odoi as Fulham failed to put the pressure on second-placed Cardiff City.
And despite the draw extending his side’s unbeaten league run to a club-record 16 games, Jokanovic was furious with his side’s errors.
“We played with emotion, without finding our best level,” he said. “There were so many unforced mistakes, so many sloppy passes, so many horizontal passes where we damaged ourselves.
“We weren’t strong enough, or lucky enough. In the end it was a completely fair result.
“I am not here to fight for records, I am here to win the games. We didn’t win today, so I cannot be satisfied. The record is not important to me. Sometimes, if we don’t find our best performances, we can lose points. After nine victories at home we didn’t win the game. We cannot be satisfied.”
Fulham had looked in complete control throughout the first half. Cairney orchestrated the game from midfield, Fulham’s movement overwhelming QPR.
Ryan Sessegnon had a goal rightly ruled out for offside after just four minutes, while Aleksandar Mitrovic might have done better after being found by Matt Targett in the box, but missed his kick.
It was no surprise when Fulham took the lead after halfan-hour, nor that it was Cairney who got it. The midfielder drove through midfield and let fly from 25 yards, finding the bottom corner through the legs of a defender.
The hosts might have doubled their lead moments later, when Ryan Fredericks flashed a shot across the face of goal, while Jake Bidwell had to make a well-timed recovery tackle to deny Mitrovic.
But just a minute before the break, Rangers were two down. Again the move came down the right, with McDonald finding Fredericks in space. His cross was a little behind Sessegnon, but he managed to tee up Lucas Piazon to slam home.
QPR, to their credit, refused to lie down. In first-half stoppage time Matt Smith got up high to meet a Luke Freeman free-kick and nod it into the path of Luongo, who swivelled and powered home.
It was the foothold Rangers needed. Smith should have levelled against his former club but was denied one-on-one by a fine stop from Marcus Bettinelli, as Fulham began to panic.
In the end, it was no surprise when Odoi miscontrolled the ball, Wszolek robbed him and finished coolly.
It capped a superb week for Rangers, who beat Aston Villa on Tuesday, but manager Ian Holloway thought his side might even have gone on to win it, and hit out at Fulham fans who seemed to think the game was over at 2-0.
“After the way the game went, I feel disappointed that we haven’t come away with all three points,” he said. “We needed half-time, I needed to have a bit of a rant and say, ‘Wait a minute, get a bit closer to people’. I was fuming. I told them to get after people and luckily for me my subs helped. We got about them and we deserved what we got.
“I believe in my team and we what we are doing. Do I expect young lads to be consistent? Not really. But I will teach them.
“When it's 2-0 people shout, ‘You look an idiot’. ‘It’s going to happen again!’ they were singing. I don’t think so!”