QPR 1-3 Peterborough: Clarke-Harris bags brace to lift Posh off foot of Championship table

QPR 1-3 Peterborough: Jonson Clarke-Harris bags a brace to lift struggling Posh off the foot of the Championship table while also denting play-off hosts’ promotion aspiration

  • Peterborough recorded a superb victory over QPR at Loftus Road on Sunday
  • Jonson Clarke-Harris scored twice to lift Posh off the bottom of the league table
  • Promotion-chasing QPR had taken the lead early in the Championship clash
  • Luke Amos put them ahead but it soon unravelled for Mark Warburton’s side 

Peterborough climbed off the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship table with a stunning 3-1 victory at play-off chasing QPR.

Jonson Clarke-Harris scored two of their goals – one of them from the penalty spot – and Jack Marriott’s stunning strike sealed Posh’s first win since Grant McCann’s recent appointment as manager, after Luke Amos had given the hosts the lead.

Amos robbed Jack Taylor, exchanged passes with Ilias Chair and then fired a low shot beyond keeper David Cornell and into the corner of the net from 25 yards to put QPR ahead in the ninth minute.

Jonson Clarke-Harris scored twice in a superb 3-1 victory for Peterborough at Loftus Road

Posh fans celebrated a vital win in their push to stay in the second tier of English football

Posh fans celebrated a vital win in their push to stay in the second tier of English football

Rangers seemed to be in control and went close to scoring again when Chair drove an effort narrowly wide before Albert Adomah’s cross was headed against the bar by Andre Gray.

The game might have panned out very differently had that gone in, but from there it all went wrong for Mark Warburton’s side.

Peterborough equalised six minutes before half-time when Dion Sanderson allowed Marriott to turn away from him and shoot from the right-hand side of the penalty area.

Luke Amos had given promotion-chasing QPR the lead in the eighth minute

Luke Amos had given promotion-chasing QPR the lead in the eighth minute 

Posh are battling to avoid relegation but remain 10 points adrift of safety in the Championship

Posh are battling to avoid relegation but remain 10 points adrift of safety in the Championship

Victory gave Posh manager Grant McCann his first win since taking the job for a second time

Victory gave Posh manager Grant McCann his first win since taking the job for a second time

MATCH FACTS

QPR: Westwood, Sanderson, Dickie, Dunne, Adomah, Field, Dozzell (Hendrick 57), McCallum, Amos (Austin 57), Chair, Gray (Thomas 58). 

SUBS NOT USED: Barbet, Ball, Odubajo, Mahoney

GOALS: Mahoney (9)

BOOKED: Field

MANAGER: Mark Warburton 

PETERBOROUGH: Cornell, Edwards, Knight, Kent, Ward, Jack Taylor (Fuchs 71), Norburn, Mumba (Burrows 45), Szmodics, Marriott (Poku 76), Clarke-Harris (Joseph Taylor 90) 

SUBS NOT USED: Beevers, Grant, Blackmore, Joseph Taylor

GOALS: Clarke-Harris (39, 53 pen), Marriott (54)

BOOKED: Marriott, Mumba, Norburn  

MANAGER: Grant McCann

REFEREE: David Webb 

Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood parried the shot but Clarke-Harris was first to the loose ball and blasted past Sam Field on the line.

Two goals in the space of as many minutes early in the second half left the home fans stunned.

Clarke-Harris slotted in a 53rd-minute spot-kick after Jimmy Dunne had tripped Joe Ward, before another error by on-loan Wolves defender Sanderson led to Marriott doubling Posh’s lead in emphatic fashion.

Marriott squirmed away from Sanderson and sent an unstoppable shot beyond Westwood and into the far corner via the inside of the post.

Stuttering Rangers, who have lost four of their last five matches, never looked like launching a comeback and have major problems.

Westwood, who had been without a club since leaving Sheffield Wednesday last summer, was making his debut after being signed this week because four Rangers keepers – Seny Dieng, David Marshall, Jordan Archer and Joe Walsh – are all out injured.

With striker Lyndon Dykes also sidelined, Rangers have been struggling at both ends of the pitch and this defeat saw them drop to eighth in the table.

Peterborough’s win moves them above Derby and was their third against QPR this season, having beaten them at home in both the league and FA Cup, although they are still 10 points from safety.

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