RAFA’S ON A ROLL
Newcastle hit QPR for six but Benitez still demands more
It was the warmest september day for 105 years and Newcastle turned up the heat at the top of the Championship last night with their biggest away league win since 1962.
almost a year ago to the day, Rafa Benitez was managing Real Madrid to a 4-0 Champions League win against shakhtar Donetsk at the Bernabeu. His tuesday nights have changed somewhat but here Newcastle humiliated Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s QPR.
It was men against boys from start to finish. Newcastle came here in search of a sixth successive win in all competitions and a fourth th straight clean sheet. . Neither was in doubt with two of their six goals coming from Jonjo shelvey, one of which was superbly struck and worthy of a grander stage.
there was also a goalal apiece for ayoze Perez,ez, Ciaran Clark, aleksandar ndar Mitrovic and Grant Hanley as Newcastle chase down early Championship leaders Huddersfield.
Hasselbaink said: ‘It went horribly wrong for us and pretty good for Newcastle. we didn’t look ourselves. It was hard to take. Newcastle are a great team with big players. You could see that.
‘they have Mitrovic £15million, shelvey £12m, Matt Ritchie £11m. shall I go on? there is a difference. I’m not going to sleep.’
Neither would the Newcastle supporters making the 300-mile trip back to tyneside on a school night. the toon army — all 3,005 of them — certainly made themselves known inside Loftus Road.
they expect promotion and are banking on Benitez taking them back where they feel they belong. Yet even 6-0 did not satisfy the spaniard entirely.
‘Maybe it is not the right thing to say but we can still improve,’ he said. ‘ the team were doing well, they were pushing, working very hard, the understanding between the players, the communication, but always they make mistakes.
‘we can enjoy this for a day or two but then we must concentrate on the next match. It’s a tough competition.’ all QPR’s nine goals this season have come from set pieces and they hardly tested Newcastle. Indeed, QPR seemed to surrender aafter conceding in the 112th minute. Mitrovic was appearing for the first time in the Championship and worked tirelessly to set up shelvey, who aimed low. His shot deflected in ooff steven Caulker. It wwas one-way traffic and in the 3030th minute Newcastle scored again. Ritchie fed Perez, whose first shot was saved by alex smithies. the QPR goalkeeper could not keep out his second stab at it, however, and it was 2-0.
In the 48th minute, shelvey curled a shot into the top-right corner from 25 yards. a thing of beauty. Newcastle made it 4-0 and an embarrassment for QPR in the 56th minute when Clark got his head on the end of a corner kick.
Mitrovic made it a five-star show when the ball deflected to him at the back post and thousands of QPR fans streamed for the exits. Newcastle weren’t done, though. they scored a sixth goal in the 79th minute when substitute Hanley side-footed in.
the last time Newcastle won away by six goals was 54 years ago, against walsall. the Championship season is only seven games old but Benitez’s team already look like title winners.