QPR move out of bottom three after fighting back to beat Rotherham

By Sports Desk February 24, 2024

Chris Willock scored the winner as QPR came from behind to beat fellow strugglers Rotherham 2-1 and climb out of the Championship relegation zone.

Tom Eaves’ early goal gave the division’s bottom side hope of a first away win since November 2022.

But the hosts turned it around in the second half, with Paul Smyth equalising before Willock’s 75th-minute strike secured three priceless points.

This match seemed like the perfect opportunity for inconsistent but improving Rangers to climb out of the bottom three, where they had been languishing since September.

However, they started poorly, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic saving from Sam Clucas and Femi Seriki also going close for the visitors when he sent an effort wide, before Eaves netted in the seventh minute.

After Ilias Chair’s diagonal ball was cut out and Sam Nombe’s flick left the QPR defence flat-footed, Eaves got away from Jake Clarke-Salter and looped his finish over Begovic.

Rotherham continued to have the upper hand, with Peter Kioso’s shot bringing another save from Begovic before visiting keeper Viktor Johansson was finally called into action.

Johansson kept out Michael Frey’s header from Jack Colback’s cross, and Steve Cook’s header from a ball in by Chair, who also had an effort saved by the Swede.

Johansson produced another save shortly before half-time, again from a Cook header following a Chair cross.

And half-time substitute Smyth hauled Rangers level after 61 minutes, collecting Willock’s pass and firing across Johansson and into the far corner of the net.

Chair had another shot saved and later crossed for Jimmy Dunne to head wide before setting up the winner.

Willock collected Chair’s pass and thumped an unstoppable shot beyond Johansson from near the edge of the penalty area.

The victory moved Rangers above Stoke, whose 2-1 defeat at Cardiff saw them slide into the relegation zone.

It also continued a steady improvement since the appointment of boss Marti Cifuentes in October.

The west London side have now lost just one of their past seven matches but face a daunting trip to face leaders Leicester next Saturday.

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    The reigning champions looked like they would have to settle for a point on a frustrating night at the MetLife Stadium, having failed to turn their superiority into the game's opening goal.

    But substitute Martinez, who also netted from the bench in his nation's opener against Canada, finally broke Chile's resolve when he lashed home two minutes from time.

    It moved Lionel Scaloni's side onto six points at the Group A summit - three points ahead of Canada, who beat Peru 1-0 earlier in the day - meaning a draw against Peru in their final game will be enough to secure top spot.

    Argentina dominated the first half with 13 unanswered shots, yet just three of those were on target. One of them saw Julian Alvarez fire straight at Claudio Bravo from close range in the 22nd minute.

    Lionel Messi also went close to scoring in the 36th minute. La Albiceleste's skipper let fly with a fizzing 25-yard attempt that clipped the outside of Bravo's left post, while Erick Pulgar almost turned Nahuel Molina's cross beyond the Chile goalkeeper two minutes later.

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    The veteran stopper beat away Molina's fierce strike within five minutes of the restart, and just after the hour mark, he produced a superb reflex save to tip Nicolas Gonzalez's drive onto the crossbar.

    With the breakthrough still eluding the world champions, Scaloni bolstered his attack by introducing Angel Di Maria and Martinez for the final 17 minutes.

    Chile had increased their own attacking threat by registering their first attempts on goal in the contest, with Rodrigo Echeverria calling Emiliano Martinez into action on both occasions.

    Yet, there was to be a late twist in Argentina's favour when an 88th-minute corner broke kindly for Martinez, who reacted the quickest to fire into the roof of the net and send La Albiceleste through to the quarter-finals.

    Persistence pays dividends for Argentina

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    This is epitomised by the fact they are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in the last 13 meetings, winning eight of those, but that does not tell the full story.

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    Argentina progress to the Copa America knockout stages for a 14th consecutive time, excluding when they withdrew from the 2001 tournament.

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    Stephen Eustaquio added: "We were too naive in the first half, but played more direct in the second half."

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