A DREADFUL moment of distraction in the 68th minute may well have hammered a nail into the coffin of Queens Park Rangers’ hopes of survival. That made the score 2-0 to Tottenham and though seven minutes later QPR did get a goal back it was never going to be enough. Would things have gone better yesterday for QPR had Richard Dunne not ruled himself out for the rest of the season with a knee injury in the 1-0 reverse to Southampton last month? Certainly you felt he might have done better than a careless defence when Tottenham got their first goal. And they were also missing Joey Barton through suspension after his red card against Hull, leaving a central midfield which did little of consequence until Sandro scored from the edge of the area.
With Sandro, apart from his goal, and Karl Henry ineffective in midfield, QPR had to rely heavily on their dangerous striking pair of Bobby Zamora and Charlie Austin, but they had to feed off scraps, rather than benefiting from the central support they needed. In the circumstances they did remarkably well, forcing saves from Hugo Lloris, the Tottenham keeper.
As for Spurs, they were always the more organised side, but their first goal, however well taken it was by Harry Kane, was a gift, as was the second.
In the 68th minute the home defence stood still waiting for the offside flag as Ryan Mason threaded a long ball to Nacer Chadli, but he let it run on to Kane to apply the finishing touch.
Advertisement
In the circumstances, it was surprising that QPR should keep Henry and, to some degree, Sandro on the pitch for as long as they did when they could have brought on Niko Kranjcar instead. This may not have been the best of the Croatian international’s seasons, but he surely would have offered more in terms of distribution and initiative.
The game began with drama at both ends. In the opening six minutes, Zamora had a header which grazed the top of the Spurs bar while at the other end a right-wing cross by the overlapping Kyle Walker was met by the head of Kane, Tottenham’s solitary striker, for Rob Green to tip the ball over the bar.
Tottenham were much the better side throughout but QPR threatened in fits and starts thanks to the enterprise of Zamora and Austin.
On 19 minutes, when Walker attempted to head the ball back to Lloris, there was confusion in the Tottenham box. Austin tried to touch the ball past Lloris but he got a desperate hand to the ball and Spurs escaped. Two minutes later, Austin found the lively right-winger Matt Phillips, whose shot flew narrowly wide. And eight minutes later, after a run and cross from the left by Phillips and a flick-on by Mauricio Isla, Austin’s attempt bounced back from the bar.
Advertisement
Moments later, however, and Andros Townsend took a free kick from the right and a neglected Kane, warmly praised by his coach Mauricio Pochettino after the match, duly profited to head home the opener.
Pochettino said: “It had been a very hard game and QPR were a very difficult side to meet,” but he asserted: “We showed character and were much better than QPR. We’re in good progression and probably I think we can improve more. This kind of game is when you can see that the team’s improved.”
Just before half-time, Kane found Walker whose deflected shot was dived on by Green. And there was still time for Austin to make a run from the right and finish with a forceful drive which Lloris did well to get down to block.
A couple of minutes into the second-half, Christian Eriksen, who showed his undoubted qualities only in fits and starts in this match, struck the right-hand post with a right-foot shot from outside the box. After that, Zamora, never subdued throughout, had a fine left-foot drive pushed behind by Lloris after a long free kick taken by Green as QPR saw another chance go begging.
On the hour, taking on defensive duties, Austin saved his team by blocking a shot on the goal line, the shot coming from Eriksen after Walker had tried to lob the ball over Green.
Advertisement
Then came Kane’s anti-climax of a goal and the goal by Sandro which was no more than a defiant gesture from the home side.
Chris Ramsey, the QPR coach, thought that they might have had a couple of penalties, though arguably Spurs could also have had one when Mason was brought down. “Sometimes,” said Ramsey, “there are decisions that are fine lines but when you are fighting for every point like we are I’m very disappointed we didn’t get one of those decisions.” On Kane, whom he coached at Tottenham, he said: “He’s polished himself.”
Star man: Andros Townsend (Tottenham)
QPR: Green 7, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 4, Caulker 6, Suk-young 6, Isla 5 (Hoilett 71min 6), Sandro 6 (Wright-Phillips 90+3mins 5), Henry 5 (Grego-Cox 88min 5), Phillips 7, Austin 8, Zamora 7
Tottenham: Lloris 7, Walker 6, Dier 6, Vertonghen 6, Davies 6, Mason 7, Bentaleb 6, Townsend 8 (Dembele 65min 6), Eriksen 6 (Stambouli 88min 5), Chadli 7 (Lamela 79min 5), Kane 8