Queens Park Rangers secured a vital 3:1 victory yesterday against Sunderland with goals from Remy, Townsend and Jenas. QPR remains last in the Premier League with 23 points, but is now even with Reading and only 4 points away from a non-relegation spot.
Sunderland travelled to Loftus Road without a win in the last 5 Premier League games and manager Martin O’Neill is under pressure to stay away from the relegation zone.
Both teams started slowly and chances where rare in the opening minutes. However, Sunderland stunned QPR fans when Fletcher scored from a swift counter-attack in the 20th minute. However, QPR was lucky 10 minutes later when a Townsend shot deflected right in the path of Remy who scored his third goal in 5 games – 1:1. Zamora, Remy and Mbia started to play better up front in the second half and it took until the 70th minute until Townsend scored the QPR lead with a 22 yard shot. Substitute Jenas finally secured the QPR victory with the 3:1 in the 90th minute when he beat Sunderland keeper Mignolet again.
Harry has now collected 19 point out of 16 games with QPR and is confident that his team can remain in the Premier League. He said: “We have closed the gap and any team on 30 points is not safe.You can go eight, nine or 10 games without winning quite easily. Anyone can have a bad run. If we continue to pick up points we may have a chance.”
QPR has now 23 points and is even with Reading, while Wigan has 24 points and a game in hand. Currently, QPR needs 4 points to catch up with Aston Villa who is 17th and on a non-relegation spot. QPR will travel to Villa on March 16th and needs another crucial victory in the battle for survival.
