Sky Bet Championship
Queens Park Rangers 4-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Smyth 8 Forestieri 61
Bidwell 10 Nuhiu 69
Sylla 15, 53 pen
Queens Park Rangers beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 to get back to winning ways in the Championship last night at Loftus Road.
Goals from Paul Smyth, Jake Bidwell and Idrissa Sylla put Ian Holloway’s men 3-0 up within just 15 minutes, before Sylla added another from the spot early in the second half.
Fernando Forestieri and Atdhe Nuhiu got two back for the visitors midway through the second half, but it wasn’t enough to complete a comeback despite a spirited effort.
Both sides were looking to get back to winning ways after 4-0 and 1-0 defeats to Hull City and Fulham on Saturday.
QPR came flying out the blocks and took the lead in the eighth minute when Smyth got the ball in space and fired the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Holloway’s side doubled their lead two minutes later when a shot was parried by Wednesday keeper Joe Wildsmith and full-back Bidwell buried the rebound.
The hosts got their third of the night in the 15th minute when Sylla headed home at the far post on the end of Smyth’s impressive cross on the right.
Sheffield Wednesday began to come into the game and in the 21st minute Adam Reach’s effort on the edge of the box was tipped over by Alex Smithies.
Ten minutes later they came close again through Nuhiu, who was one-on-one with the keeper, but Smithies pulled off a brilliant save to deny the Kosovo international.
The forward then came close again on the brink of half time, but his header on the end of Reach’s cross went wide.
Just eight minutes into the second half, QPR had a penalty after visiting captain Tom Lees brought down Sylla in the box.
The Guinean international then stepped up and buried the ball in the bottom-left corner to put the hosts four goals to the good.
Wednesday got a goal back in the 61st minute when Forestieri got the ball in space on the left and fired the ball in the bottom-right corner.
They then reduced the deficit further eight minutes later when Nuhiu headed home on the end of a good ball from the right.
The visitors continued to put up a fight, but it came to nothing. Their last chance came in the fourth minute of added time when Joey Pelupessy’s powerful effort was saved by the legs of Smithies.
The result means that QPR remain in 15th while Wednesday drop to 17th.
Queens Park Rangers: Smithies, Furlong, Baptiste, Robinson (c), Bidwell, Cousins, Scowen (Manning 67), Smyth, Freeman, Osayi-Samuel (Wszolek 77), Sylla (Smith 68)
Booked: Scowen
Subs not used: Washington, Ingram (GK), Kakay, Eze.
Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Palmer, Lees (c), Pudil, Thorniley, Pelupessy, Jones, Forestieri (Boyd 80), Reach, Nuhiu (Rhodes 83), Joao (Matias 64)
Booked: Pudil
Subs not used: Butterfield, Baker, Dawson, Nielsen.
Attendance: 12,521