Crystal Palace 3 QPR 0 - Further Match Reports

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[See also: Earlier Reports & Comments re Crystal Palace vs QPR = Comments]

SUNDAY TIMES - Crystal Palace 3 QPR 0: Palace force relentless pace Duncan Castles
Championship management, they say, is a young man's profession.
Evidence enough that this London derby brought hoary old veterans Peter Taylor, 53, and John Gregory, 52, together in a meeting of the division's most elderly bosses. If that was merely a product of fashion, neither man's recent results warranted much confidence in experience. For Taylor, at least, this was far better. The win - his second in 12 attempts - did not lift Palace from the Championship's lower reaches, but it was achieved with flair, courtesy of an impressively direct forward line.
Taylor has spent the season attempting to perm an effective striking combination, the Queens Park Rangers defence will tell him that in Dougie Freedman and Shefki Kuqi he has found it - with their rudely embarrassed centre-back Damion Stewart ready to serve as prime witness.
"Shefki and Freedman seemed to have a telepathic understanding," said Taylor. "It seemed that whenever the ball dropped for one the other one made a forward run and was found. They looked dangerous.
"There was a lot of pressure on Shefki to play at home where he hasn't performed brilliantly after a big transfer fee, but he answered every question. He was immense, worked so hard and took care of two defenders every time he went for things."
With both clubs so badly in need of victory there was no shortage of energy or early openings, QPR prospering through their large, athletic three-man attack.
At centre-forward, Marc Nygaard was a perplexing presence for Iain Turner, the Scots goalkeeper only half-clearing from his head to the feet of Martin Rowlands, who dallied over a free shot. Minutes later the midfielder was in again but pulled his strike wide.
Freedman was far more alert. Twice the over-worked Stewart was forced into rapid retreat to cut off the forward, but as soon as he left him alone QPR fell behind. Kuqi instigated, the summer buy from Blackburn muscling away the defender before cutting back for his partner. Starting just his third game this season, Freedman finished adroitly.
The pace of the game refusing to relent, Nygaard contrived to miss from two yards, while Turner did well to deflect Jimmy Smith's low shot away. It was Palace, though, who were to extend their lead.
Possibly tiring of stopping Freedman with last-ditch recover tackles, Stewart attempted to take possession from the former QPR trainee further up the park. He ended up on the turf, Freedman spinning in front of him and laying off to Kuqi, who scored through the legs of Simon Royce. "A central defender shouldn't gamble in those situations," critiqued Gregory. "Get it wrong and it ends up in the net."
If QPR's high defensive line was no match for Freedman, their attacking profligacy did nought to redeem the situation. One-on-one with Turner, Nygaard found the on-loan Everton keeper's legs instead of net.
Freedman and Kuqi were soon meshing again, one-touching Ben Watson in to loft over the crossbar. As the Jamaican Stewart fumbled and flailed, Palace charged on, embellishing the scoreline when Soares teed up substitute Clinton Morrison for a clean finish. On the touchline, one manager looked a younger man.
Star Man: Dougie Freedman (Palace)
Player ratings: Palace (4-4-2): Turner 7, Butterfield 6 (Lawrence 44min, 6), Ward 7, Hudson 7, Granville 6, Soares 7, Watson 6, Hughes 7 (Green 89min, 6), McAnuff 6, Kuqi 8, Freedman 8 (Morrison 81min, 7)
QPR (4-3-3): Royce 5, Mancienne 6, Rehman 5, Stewart 3, Bignot 5, Rowlands 5, Gallen 6, Smith 7, Nygaard 5 (Ward 77min, 6), Blackstock 5, R. Jones 5
Scorers: Palace: Freedman 13, Kuqi 32, Morrison 86
TimesSee

INDEPENDENT Crystal Palace 3 QPR 0: Kuqi shoots down Rangers
By Conrad Leach at Selhurst Park
A third inept performance in a week brought Queen's Park Rangers their third defeat. The west Londoners' retreat from the relegation zone had been gathering pace but they have suddenly slowed up, largely thanks to some remarkably slack defending. Faced here with Shefki Kuqi, that defence looked porous, with the former Blackburn Rovers striker, a £1m summer signing, finally producing a return on that investment.
Crystal Palace's first goal arrived with their first genuine attack, and it displayed the jitters at the heart of QPR's back line. "Fragile," observed John Gregory, the visiting manager.
With 12 minutes gone, a long kick by Iain Turner found Kuqi, who gave his marker Damion Stewart a torrid afternoon. The Finnish international reached the byline and his cut-back found Dougie Freedman, who tucked his shot low past Simon Royce.
The QPR goalkeeper was blameless for that goal but had to admit a large degree of culpability for the second, as Kuqi's under-strength shot went through his legs.
It was not as if the visitors, who lost their previous two games against Sunderland and Coventry, were short of chances. They just could not take any, with Martin Rowlands missing twice in quick succession.
Then, five minutes from time, Tom Soares found Palace substitute Clinton Morrison, who converted from five yards out.
The Palace manager, Peter Taylor, was delighted with Kuqi's performance and felt it heralded brighter things for the club. "He was immense. He's answered every question after that big transfer fee. Now I feel we can get into the play-offs." Independent

SPORTING LIFE/PA SPORT -By Tom Collomosse
Shefki Kuqi finally began to justify his £2.5million price tag with a fine display to help Crystal Palace to victory over QPR.
The Finn, who had failed to hit the heights since his summer move to the Championship club from Blackburn, scored the second goal and created the first for Dougie Freedman, with substitute Clinton Morrison adding a third four minutes from full-time.
Rangers missed four superb opportunities in the first half, but they struggled after the break and have now lost their last three matches.
In the early stages, Rangers midfielder Martin Rowlands missed two great chances to put his team in front, first when his close-range effort was blocked by Danny Butterfield, and then with an angled shot from 20 yards that flew just wide.
And Rangers were punshed in the 13th minute when Palace seized the lead.
Kuqi outmuscled Damion Stewart inside the box and cut the ball back for Freedman, who scored easily from six yards.
Rangers were undaunted and attacked with enterprise - but their finishing let them down twice more, with the recalled Marc Nygaard the culprit this time.
The Dane failed to apply the decisive touch when he closed in on Rowlands' low cross from the right, before missing an even better chance from three yards after Dexter Blackstock had headed Jones' left-wing cross into his path in the 18th minute.
Rangers looked far shakier in defence, however.
And Palace duly doubled their lead in the 32nd minute, Freedman breaking clear before releasing Kuqi, whose eight-yard shot went in off goalkeeper Simon Royce.
Rangers seemed to have lost heart at the start of the second half, and it was Palace who looked far more likely to score a third.
The recalled Ben Watson fired well over from 20 yards in the 47th minute after Kuqi and Freedman had combined neatly to set him up, and the same player shot wide of an open goal from 35 yards shortly afterwards following a tangle between Kuqi and Royce.
Kuqi was a constant menace for Rangers with his physical style of play.
In the 67th minute, the Finn burst past Zesh Rehman and saw his shot saved by Royce - only for Jobi McAnuff somehow to hook the ball over an unguarded goal.
McAnuff was off target again shortly afterwards, shooting into the side-netting after Michael Hughes had released him.
Palace scored their third goal in the 86th minute, Hughes sending Tom Soares clear, and the midfielder squared the ball for Morrison to score from five yards and extend Palace's unbeaten run to four matches.
Sporting Life

BBC - Crystal Palace 3-0 QPR
.....Crystal Palace boss Peter Taylor:
"I still feel we can be involved in the play-offs.
"There have been teams who have managed it who have been worse off than us at this stage of the season.
"It is all about how we perform, because we are a lot better than we have shown so far."
QPR boss John Gregory:
"If there had not been anything wrong, I would not be here in the first place.
"In the first half we had opportunities which we have been taking recently, but we look very fragile in terms of confidence.
"We have been poor in our last two home games, and we were poor today as well."
BBC