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Premier League
Dec 6, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Burnley logo

2-0

Fer (51'), Austin (74')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Live Commentary: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Burnley - as it happened

Relive all of the action with Sports Mole's live commentary of QPR's 2-0 win over Burnley.
2

Queens Park Rangers moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Burnley at Loftus Road this evening.

Leroy Fer opened the score shortly after the break, before Charlie Austin doubled the lead on 74 minutes.

Austin, who had earlier been booked, was then sent off just minutes after scoring, but there was not enough time remaining for the Clarets to stage a comeback.

Relive all of the action with Sports Mole's live commentary below.


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Well hello! I'm Shane and I'll be guiding you through QPR's Premier League six-pointer with Burnley at Loftus Road this afternoon. If you don't know what a 'six-pointer' is then I'll tell you: it's the name given to a match between two really bad teams. It's not really, but it is safe to say that both sides have endured a pretty poor first four months on their return to top-flight football.

Harry Redknapp's QPR sit 19th in the table after picking up 11 points from their first 14 outings, one place below the 18th-placed Clarets, with Sean Dyche's side boasting a slightly better points tally with 12. Ominous? Kinda, but both teams have shown some promising signs in recent weeks and you can be sure that neither will drop back down into the Championship without a fight.

Let's look at Burnley's form first and what a last few weeks it has been for Dyche and co. They had to wait until November for their first league win of the season - a 1-0 victory over Hull City - and they haven't lost since! They only went and beat Stoke a week later and they've drawn 1-1 with both Aston Villa and Newcastle United in their last two games. It is a run of form which has seen Danny Ings finally announce himself to the Premier League.

It took five matches for the 22-year-old to get off the mark but he hasn't stopped scoring; netting four times in his last six league outings and it looks like he's going to be Burnley's heartbeat throughout their relegation battle - or is he?

By virtue of his impressive form, Ings - whose contract expires in the summer - has been linked with moves away from Turf Moor recently, with Southampton reportedly ready to prise him away in January. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that Burnley would also be selling their top-flight credentials should they allow their talisman to leave the club next month. He's going to be absolutely critical for their survival hopes.

Is he starting this afternoon? Probably, but let's double check with a bit of team news. Before we get into that though why not have a look at what the lads down at Sports MoleHQ have had to say on this clash? Ah go on. See you in a few.


QPR XI: Green; Isla, Caulker, Dunne, Suk-Young; Vargas, Barton, Henry, Fer; Austin Zamora

BURNLEY XI: Heaton; Mee, Shackell, Keane, Trippier; Boyd, Jones, Marney, Arfield; Barnes, Ings

QPR SUBS: McCarthy; Ferdinand, Phillips, Onuoha, Mutch, Kranjcar, Hoilett

BURNLEY SUBS: Gilks, Sordell, Reid, Kightly, Jutkiewicz, Wallace, Long

Okay let's start with the hosts and I can confirm that Redknapp makes two changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Swansea, with Bobby Zamora returning from a back injury to displace Niko Kranjcar and partner Charlie Austin up front, while Nedum Onuoha makes way at right-back for Mauricio Isla.

Looks like 4-4-2 for Rangers, with Eduardo Vargas, Joey Barton, Karl Henry and Leroy Fer making up a four-man midfield behind Zamora and Austin. Suk-Young Yun, Richard Dunne, Steven Caulker and Isla sit in front of goalkeeper Robert Green in defence and that's your lot from QPR!

On to the Clarets now and Dyche only makes the one change from their 1-1 draw with the Magpies, as Ben Mee comes in at left-back for the injured Stephen Ward. It's as you were up top, with Ings partnering Ashley Barnes as the focal points, with George Boyd - who scored against Newcastle - Dean Marney, David Jones and Scott Arfield in midfield. Michael Keane retains his selection alongside Jason Shackell at centre-half due to Michael Duff's ongoing injury. Tom Heaton, as ever, starts in net. 4-4-2 for them also you'd imagine.

What can we make of QPR's season then? Lukewarm, init. Redknapp's side haven't recorded back-to-back wins all season and have only managed three victories in four months Not great, is it? They lost 2-0 to Swansea City in midweek, but they did beat fellow strugglers Leicester City 3-2 here last week. It's those type of games, fixtures against similar opposition, that will determine Rangers' fate this season.

However, like Burnley, Rangers also have the luxury of an in-form hitman for this one: Charlie Austin. The 25-year-old, who was playing in the ninth tier of English football five years ago, has struck seven times in his 13 Premier League outings so far - and, ominously for the Clarets, he has five in his last six at Loftus Road!

Like Burnley with Ings, QPR may very well brace themselves for a bit of interest in their talisman in January, but you wonder if such a sale would effectively relegate them considering how prolific Austin has been so far. Austin vs. Ings is a bit of a subplot today actually and I'm quite looking forward to seeing how both get on. It's not quite Ronaldo vs. Messi, but it's interesting nonetheless.

UPDATE: Chelsea's unbeaten record is no more! Jose Mourinho's side have lost 2-1 to Newcastle United at St James's Park. Read all about that massive result here. As an Arsenal fan myself I'm particularly pleased because, well, that unbeaten season is all we've got left. Well done Newcastle.

DID YOU KNOW? Let's have a quick look at a few stats and did you know that Burnley are unbeaten in their last NINE meetings with QPR? Yep, seven Championship games and two FA Cup encounters. Both sides played out a six-goal thriller and drew 3-3 in their last match-up back in February. Decent omens for the Clarets then.

PREDICTION: Right, we're about 12 minutes from kickoff so let's wet our whistles with a prediction, shall we? Why not. I see QPR winning this in truth. Their home record is better than Burnley's dodgy away record. 3-1 to the Londoners, with Austin bagging at least one of those. Boyd to score for the visitors.

REFEREE WATCH: Speaking of whistles, who will oversee this one today? That would be Jonathan Moss, who takes charge of his 11th Premier League game of the season today. We last saw him on Tuesday for Manchester United's 2-1 win over Stoke City, where he dished out six yellow cards. Don't mess with the Moss.

Right, that Kill Bill music is echoing around Loftus Road and we'll be underway in about seven minutes. Few Santa Clauses in attendance - they're actually just rotund, bearded old men dressed in red I think.

Okay so the players are entering the field now. The Kill Bill music still hasn't stopped...

Both managers exchange the pre-match handshakes now. For a second it looked as if Harry Redknapp was going to wave at his opposite number.

KICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off at Loftus Road. The ground looks a bit hard and frosty, but on the plus side we might see attacking players stay on their feet.

Austin has been busy so far. He has just shoved Kieran Trippier off the ball and got away with it, before floating a decent cross into the box but Michael Keane got it away.

That's a nasty one. Joey Barton and David Jones contest an aerial ball but end up clashing heads. It looked a sore one but they're both back on their feet thankfully.

CLOSE! Good play from Barton, who swings in a brilliant cross to increase Burnley's pulses but Bobby Zamora was inches away from reaching the ball and converting past Heaton.

Another clash of heads as George Boyd collides with Karl Henry. Boyd is the one on the ground, but Henry looks to have a gash on his head. He's going off the field to have that seen to. First blood to Burnley I assume.

Henry is back on the field and he's rocking a Terry Butcher-style bandage over his head now. Nothing looks harder in football than a head bandage.

SAVE! Robert Green, who had a blinder against Swansea in midweek, has reproduced his heroics from that night already. He comes out to punch a cross under pressure from Danny Ings, but the rebound falls to Arfield and the Burnley winger fires at goal but Green gets his face in the way to prevent a certain goal. Brave goalkeeping that.

FREE KICK: This was a good chance for QPR, after winning a free kick just outside the box, but Barton's effort at goal is never beating Tom Heaton, who comfortably catches. Decent game so far.

It's still very early days but this one really could go either way. It's been very, very even so far, with Burnley having the best chance but QPR boast all the possession.

Barton has looked very impressive so far. He's pinging quite a few Xabi Alonso type balls - and they're coming off, believe it or not. Burnley will need to pressure him more because he's got all the time in the world to spray these passes.

Barton was unlucky there. He was penalised for a foul on Ings outside the box. David Jones stepped up left-footed and looked to swing it around the wall, but it deflected out for a corner, which Green plucks out of the sky. Good goalkeeping.

The tempo has died down somewhat here in recent minutes, with Jon Moss giving a lot of soft free kicks now. Not much fluency.

Good player from Burnley there. Ings pulls out to the left-hand side before drilling a decent ball into the danger zone for the lurking Barnes, but Caulker is back in the nick of time to clear for a corner.

OFF THE POST: What a strike this is, and it's George Boyd, who takes aim from well outside the box and drives a cracking left-footed shot off the post. Green had no chance. Excellent.

OFF THE LINE: Proper end-to-end game this. QPR look certain to edge ahead after Vargas cuts inside Ben Mee and fires a shot between Tom Heaton's legs, but Michael Keane is on the line to clear away. The Manchester United defender showed decent intelligent to anticipate that and intentionally gravitate toward the line. Well done him.

SHOT! Dean Marney is next to try and test Robert Green, but his effort is nowhere near as good as Boyd's earlier one and his long-range shot glides into row-z.

Oh somebody needs to gamble. Boyd fires a cross-come-shot across the face of goal but Ings and Scott Arfield are just watching on instead of busting a gut to reach it. Poor, but it's all Burnley in these last few minutes folks. I'm reading Alan Hanson's book of footall phrases by the way.

This is poor from Danny Ings, who takes on Mauricio Isla and beats him on that right-hand side, but Boyd has made a lung-busting run into the box, but Ings never feeds him and Isla hurries him out of play eventually. If I was Boyd I'd be livid.

We spoke heavily about Ings pre-match but George Boyd has been the stand-out performer for Burnley so far. We've not seen much of Charlie Austin and QPR as of yet, but we don't need to see a tiger in attack mode to know that it's lethal, do we?

Huge block from Jason Shackell there! Austin headed down to Bobby Zamora, who laid off to Leroy Fer but the Dutchman saw his close-range shot blocked by the Burnley skipper. Good defending.

George Boyd in the thick of things again for Burnley as his right-footed shot deflects off Richard Dunne and loops into the arms of Green. Looks like it's going to be goalless at the break.

This is a nasty one for Charlie Austin, who is clattered by Burnley stopper Tom Heaton, who came out to meet a bouncing 50-50 ball before colliding with the QPR hitman.

BOOKING: Leroy Fer becomes the first name to be taken by referee Jon Moss following a late challenge on Trippier. Correct decision in my view.

HALF TIME: QPR 0-0 BURNLEY

Well, it's goalless here folks in a decent first half, but it's also 0-0 in four of the other five games on now. It's certainly not boring down at the Britannia, though, where Stoke lead Arsenal 3-0 at the break!

What have we made of our first half then? Decent enough I think. Both teams have had chances, with George Boyd firing against the post from long range, while Michael Keane denied QPR a certain goal by clearing Eduardo Vargas's shot off the line.

Overall, neither side deserves to be losing or winning this at the moment. Burnley probably slightly the better side by way of goal-mouth action, but yet to yank a reward for their dominance. They have to keep it up in the second half, though, because the Clarets have often dipped massively after the break.

How are the golden boys - Danny Ings and Charlie Austin - doing then? Well, not great. Ings has been more involved than his QPR counterpart but, as we said in commentary, you don't need to see a cobra attack to know how lethal it is. They've both been quiet but given the chance they'll punish. Both back-fours need to stay alert in the second half.

Anyways, pop the kettle on and meet me back here in about three minutes for the second half. I can't promise goals, but I can promise entertainment. I actually can't but we can hope!

RESTART: Welcome back and we're officially underway again at Loftus Road. QPR kick us off. Let's go.

OOOMPH Joey Barton is usually the one delivering these bone-crunching challenges but he's on the end of one now as Barnes goes through him for a shortcut and earns a booking for his troubles. Barton, to his credit, tried to persuade Moss not to book him. Good sportsmanship there.

GOAL!! QPR 1-0 BURNLEY (FER)

We have the breakthrough at Loftus Road and it's Leroy Fer. It's far from pretty, as Austin plays in Fer, whose first touch lets him down, but he gets there just before Tom Heaton and his effort loops up into the corner of the net. Ben Mee raced across to pressure the Dutchman, but he didn't do enough. 1-0.

On second viewing the goal might have taken a nick of Mee's boot before looping into the net. One for the dubious goals panel I think.

We called it at half time, didn't we? We said Burnley have to keep up their pressure in the second half because they're prone to dipping, and they've done just that again. Dyche will be furious.

CLOSE! Oh my word this is so close. George Boyd fizzes a low cross into the box and Richard Dunne - who has about 29 own goals to his name I think - almost diverts it past Green at the near post. Heart in mouth moment time for Dunne.

Good play from Ings, dropping the shoulder to win a free kick from Joey Barton, but the set-piece is wasted as Trippier's floated cross is easily headed away.

Take a bow Richard Dunne. Ings is through on goal after latching on to Barnes's flick-on header, but Dunne gets back in the nick of time to nip the ball away from the striker before he can pull the trigger. How important could that intervention prove to be.

CHANCE! Oh Georgie Boyd should've done better here. The ball falls kindly to him just outside the box, but he side-foots high and wide of the bar. He needs to be hitting the target at the very least.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's a goal or two here for Burnley; they just need to do a bit more in the final third. Dunne and Caulker have been good at centre-back, but they can be beaten.

Remember: Burnley came into this one on the back of a nine-game unbeaten streak against QPR. That has to count for something, right?

BOOKING: Trippier has been in the wars today and he's had another rash challenge on him by Austin, who goes into the book.

GOAL!!!! QPR 2-0 BURNLEY (AUSTIN)

QPR take a huge step toward the win now and it's a really worked goal, as Mauricio Isla plays a neat one-two with Leroy Fer before cutting back for the unmarked Austin to tap home from inside the box. It's a good goal but why was nobody picking him up? It's Charlie Austin we're talking about.

RED CARD: Charlie Austin, who just bagged the second, has been sent off for a second yellow - he only picked up the first one a few minutes ago! He contests an aerial ball with Keane, but his arm brushes the United loanee in the face and Jon Moss has deemed it enough to send him off. It looked harsh for me personally.

Can Burnley get back into it then? It's unlikely, considering it was a striker that was red-carded, and Jordan Mutch has come on, but there's 10 minutes left so let's see what happens here.

Burnley still toiling in the final third but it doesn't look as if they're going to halve the deficit. They badly need a bit of inspiration.

SAVE! Suk-Young Yun could, and should, have ended the game right there. Fer played him in beyond Trippier but, with just Heaton to beat, fired straight at the Burnley stopper. He's a left-back so perhaps we can forgive him for the shocking finish.

Two minutes of normal time left and unless something amazing happens, then QPR are going to win this. Burnley look fresh out of ideas.

SUBSTITUTION: Marvin Sordell replaces Ashley Barnes for the last few minutes. Barnes hasn't been great so a change probably could've happened sooner.

FOUR MINUTES ADDED ON:

SHOT! This is probably as close as Burnley are going to come to clawing one back, as Ben Mee fires a snap-shot straight at Green, who comfortably gathers the ball up. Three minutes left but it's looking like a QPR win, my friends.

FULL TIME: QPR 2-0 BURNLEY

That's all she wrote folks. Ten-man QPR hang on to move out of the relegation zone! That's all we've got time for tonight but stay tuned for analysis and player ratings and all that good stuff. Hopefully you've enjoyed our coverage and we'll see you next time.

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Charlie Austin of QPR celebrates scoring their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Queens Park Rangers at St Mary's Stadium on September 27, 2014
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