Wayne Routledge scores twice as QPR stroll past Sheffield United

Queens Park Rangers re-established their nine-point lead at the top of the Championship, and such was the manner in which they won that they will feel the gap can be widened further. Rangers were dominant, scoring three but threatening to score many more. They look as strong contenders for promotion as Sheffield United do for relegation.



The return of Adel Taarabt was a sizeable boost for the hosts. The club captain missed last week's win at Doncaster after finding out on the eve of the game that his cousin had been shot dead in Marseille. Here, the 21-year-old played a fizzing cross from the right wing after 15 minutes that should have resulted in a goal. Unmarked in the six-yard area, the left-back Clint Hill made contact but it was slight and the ball drifted away from the far post.

The pressure continued, with United unable to halt QPR's high-pressing, quick-passing play. The visitors' outlet was their own returning hero, Darius Henderson, the striker making his second appearance in 12 months, having recovered from a serious hamstring injury. The 29-year-old, playing as a lone striker, was well marshalled by the QPR centre-back Fitz Hall.


The ball was always heading back towards United's area and it came as no surprise when QPR took the lead on 29 minutes, through Wayne Routledge's close-range shot. The winger reacted calmly to Heidar Helguson's cross, having been left unmarked at the far post by Nyron Nosworthy. It was almost 2-0 a little over 10 minutes later when Bradley Orr cut in from the right and curled a shot that drifted just over the bar.
United began the second half brightly and they could have equalised through Daniel Bogdanovic. The midfielder should have done better with a close-range shot that sailed over the bar. The miss proved costly after 52 minutes. Lurking at the edge of the area as Matthew Lowton cleared Taarabt's corner, Alejandro Faurlin drove a left-footed shot into the right-hand corner of the net.


It was 3-0 14 minutes later, after Tommy Smith played the ball to Taarabt. He rolled it out to Routledge, who strolled towards goal before driving a low drive past Steven Simonsen and into the far corner of the net.
Routledge was unlucky not to complete his hat-trick soon after, when the his close-range shot was fantastically saved, low down, by Simonsen. It should have been 4-0 on 78 minutes, when Patrick Agyemang, on as a substitute for Taarabt, hit a drive over the bar as an open net waited.


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