Watford boss Valerien Ismael was as surprised as anyone to see Jake Livermore score both goals in their 2-1 win at QPR.
Veteran midfielder Livermore has rarely scored two goals in a season throughout his long career, but he hit two in five minutes to pile more misery on Rangers.
“For Jake it’s not his job to score goals but we are pleased with him, he has a great mentality,” said Ismael.
“That’s three goals in one season – I can’t remember when he scored that many in one season.”
Ben Hamer had kept Watford at bay with fine saves to deny Sinclair Armstrong before former Tottenham, West Brom, Hull and England midfielder Livermore struck.
He collected a cut-back from Matheus Martins 25 yards out, took a touch and curled a superb effort past the despairing dive of Asmir Begovic.
Five minutes later Livermore repeated the trick, this time drilling a half-clearance low past Begovic from 20 yards.
Rangers hit back when Lyndon Dykes tapped in Paul Smyth’s cross at the far post with 13 minutes remaining.
Hamer then made a fine save to keep out Jimmy Dunne’s shot in stoppage time as Watford held on to complete a first league double over QPR since 2005/6 under Aidy Boothroyd.
Ismael added: “It was a great away performance, you saw everything we expected, it’s a tough place to come and get the points.
“In the first half we played well but maybe didn’t have the big chance to score, but we were in control.
“In the second half we said we needed to create chances and have the possibility to score.
“The more you shoot the more chance you have to score the goal. We have to make sure that is always in our mind and we are always on the front foot.”
Rangers are still in the bottom three, five points from safety and destined for League One unless boss Marti Cifuentes can turn things around.
“It’s a very disappointing result,” said Cifuentes. “We started very good, had good control and I don’t think they created any big chances.
“In the second half we had a very big chance in minute one, then another, but unfortunately they took the lead with their first shot on goal. It’s very frustrating, it’s not usual that we concede two goals from 30 metres.
“We didn’t give up, we tried to push and their keeper made a fantastic save. At the end I would say it’s a disappointing result but we need to score the chances.
“We were playing one of the best sides in the league and we dominated. We got really big chances. We need to bounce back.”
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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