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Live Commentary: West Ham United 2-0 Queens Park Rangers - as it happened

Find out how West Ham United eased past bottom-of-the-table Queens Park Rangers to climb into the top half of the Premier League.
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Rockbottom Queens Park Rangers travelled across London to visit West Ham United without an away point so far this season in the Premier League.

That remains the case after Harry Redknapp's side were beaten 2-0 by the Hammers, who climbed into the top half of the table with a win.

Read how it all unfolded at Upton Park in our minute-by-minute updates below.


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Hello there folks. The fourth and final match of the day in the Premier League is a derby in the East of the capital as QPR travel across London to take on West Ham.

In the first match of the day, which kicked off at midday, Manchester United got the better of Everton in a pulsating match at Old Trafford. Read our match report on that one here.

BREAKING TEAM NEWS! Sam Allardyce makes two changes to his starting lineup as Carl Jenkinson and Mauro Zarate come in for Guy Demel and Diego Poyet.

WEST HAM XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell; Song; Amalfitano, Downing, Zarate; Sakho, Valencia
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Burke, Poyet, Nolan, Jarvis, Lee, Cole

Demel suffered an injury in training this week so has to sit out altogether, while Poyet drops to the bench. It's certainly an attacking lineup from Allardyce, with Alex Song the only traditional defensive-minded midfielder in front of the back four.

QPR TEAM:


It's three changes from Harry Redknapp for the visitors, with Nedum Onuoha, Karl Henry and Junior Hoilett replacing Mauricio Isla, Matt Phillips and Eduardo Vargas.

QPR SUBS: McCarthy, Isla, Mutch, Dunne, Vargas, Zamora, Taarabt

Hats off to QPR centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who today makes his 500th appearance in the Premier League.

Rio Ferdinand of QPR salutes the crowd at the end of the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford on September 14, 2014© Getty Images

There's still no Joey Barton for the visitors as he hasn't yet recovered from a hamstring injury. Jordan Mutch has also been struggling with an issue in the same area, but he's on the bench today. Sandro starts in midfield despite taking a hefty blow to the head a week ago.

It will certainly be a boost for Rangers fans to see Mutch back in the squad for the first time since September 20. West Ham also have a player returning from injury, with Matt Jarvis back in the matchday squad for the first time this season.

UPDATE! A quick update on what's happening in the two top-flight matches currently taking place, also both in London. Chelsea are 1-0 up on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge while at White Hart Lane, Spurs are edging out Southampton.

Anyway, back to our featured game at Upton Park. Both sides go into the game in the bottom five and three points is much-needed for both.

QPR are in fact now propping up the rest after Burnley's late, late equaliser at Leicester City yesterday saw them climb above Redknapp's men on goal difference.

Warm-ups underway at Upton Park:

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VIDEO: Here come the Hammers for their pre-match warm-up. Kick-off v #QPR is at 4.20pm

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As mentioned in the intro above, QPR will have to pick up their first point on the road this season if they are to lift themselves off the bottom. Their away results so far: Spurs 4-0 QPR, Man Utd 4-0 QPR, Southampton 2-1 QPR.

So they've only scored one away goal and that was an absolute corker from Charlie Austin at St Mary's last week. The striker, who leads the line again today, swivelled and volleyed home after brilliantly plucking the ball out of the sky.

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© Getty Images

Finding the net has been one of QPR's biggest problems this season - they've only scored four times in six games and three of those have come in the last two games. With Loic Remy no longer at the club, there is a lot of pressure on Austin to get at least into double figures.

Enough about the visitors, let's move onto the Hammers. Allardyce's side have actually been better on their travels this season, picking up four points away from home and just three at Upton Park.

That one win did come in West Ham's last home game, though, and it was some result as they beat Liverpool 3-1 two weekends ago.

Another positive for the hosts is that they are unbeaten in their last four home matches against QPR, whose last win at Upton Park came in August 1993 (0-4).

The last time QPR beat West Ham at all was almost exactly 10 years ago on October 15, 2004 - a 1-0 win in the Championship.

REFEREE WATCH! Today's man with the whistle is Anthony Taylor, who was in charge when QPR were spanked by Spurs in August. Will he be getting plenty of lip from the home side like he did below in a game last season?

West Ham players Senegalese midfielder Mohamed Diame, English defender James Tomkins, Spanish goalkeeper Adrian, Ivorian defender Guy Demel, English midfielder Matthew Taylor and English midfielder Stewart Downing surround referee Anthony Taylor (C) to ap© Getty Images

UPDATE! Spurs have beaten Southampton 1-0 (match report here) while at the Bridge it's now 2-0 to Chelsea after another Fabregas-to-Costa goal this season. Chelsea going further clear at the top, while Arsenal's unbeaten start is soon to come to an end.

Just 10 minutes now until kickoff, so why not watch below and check out our video discussion on the match that myself, Barney and Matt filmed earlier in the week. I go for a 1-1 draw, while the other two pick West Ham to win 1-0 and 2-0.


Interestingly, West Ham are the only team yet to keep a clean sheet this season in the Premier League, while QPR are one of the lowest scorers in the division. That will surely be a boost for the visitors given their woes when going forward.



Looking at the two lineups this afternoon, I think that the key area of the pitch could be the middle of the park. If QPR's bullish trio of Sandro, Henry and Fer can overrun their counterparts in claret and blue, they could see plenty of the ball and dominate the centre circle.

Here we go then, kickoff imminent in East London:

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VIDEO: Here come the two teams! We are minutes away from kick-off! #WHUQPR

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Kickoff is just a little delayed because of the earlier interruption at Stamford Bridge. It's just finished there and it did indeed finish 2-0 to the Blues, who now go five points clear at the top.

KICKOFF! We're finally underway as Downing and Zarate get proceedings off and running.

By making his 500th Premier League appearance today, Ferdinand joins a list filled with greats:


GOAL! WEST HAM 1-0 QPR (ONUOHA, OG)

That didn't take long! West Ham break the deadlock before the five-minute mark as Downing's corner from the right is inadvertently turned into his own net by Onuoha, with Sakho close by and the one congratulated by his teammates.

@OptaJoe tweets: "2 - QPR have now kept only two clean sheets in their last 20 Premier League games. Slump."

QPR were appealing for handball when Downing's corner came in, but referee Taylor shook his head at their claims and it'll certainly be an uphill climb for the visitors now.

CHANCE! Sakho gets in behind the QPR defence down the left before his low cross into the middle reaches strike partner Valencia. It's a little behind the Ecuadorian, whose left-foot effort bobbles wide of the near post.

QPR have done almost nothing going forward, with Austin extremely isolated in the R's attack.

BOOKING! If you had to pick the first player to receive a booking it would have been Sandro. He is cautioned for a late challenge on Sakho.



West Ham have looked more like scoring, but it's been a bit drab so far and there's been very few clear-cut chances for either team.

Click here to see the full Premier League table as it stands. As you can see, three points for West Ham takes them up eight places to eighth.

CHANCE! It's the first real opening for either side as Austin's clever touch takes him past Tomkins and he goes for goal instead of squaring for Kranjcar. His curling effort is too central and straight at Adrian, who holds easily.

That effort from Austin was QPR's first effort at goal today. One plus for the visitors - they've had slightly more possession (53%). That doesn't surprise me too much though as they do have more ball-playing midfielders in the centre.

CHANCE! Fierce inswinging delivery from the right by Zarate after his initial corner was cleared and it's met by Reid and then Valencia at the back post but doesn't find the net.

Amalfitano's ball into the middle is miscontrolled by Sakho, but Valencia picks up the pieces before Cresswell runs onto the loose ball and has his low strike instantly blocked by a blue-and-white shirt. Good spell this for the Hammers.

Zarate at the heart of most good things West Ham do at the moment. He's just tricked his way down the right wing before his cross was flicked away for a corner.

The visitors work the ball into a good area, but Austin's cross back in the direction of Fer doesn't find the target and harmlessly goes out of play.

Cresswell in acres of space down the left but he can't find a fellow claret-and-blue shirt in the middle with his low cutback. The left-back should have done better there and got his head up.



Traore with a brave header clear to prevent Valencia meeting Cresswell's cross after another promising surge forward by the left-back.

TWO minutes of time added on at the end of the first half.

HALF-TIME: WEST HAM 1-0 QPR

So it's West Ham who lead at the break thanks to Onuoha's fifth-minute own goal. Not much else to speak of, but West Ham just about edged the first 45.

Here are the West Ham players celebrating the opening and only goal so far:

West Ham players, including Enner Valencia and Stewart Downing, celebrate after Nedum Onuoha of QPR scored an own goal during the Barclays Premier League match on October 5, 2014© Getty Images

If you're only just joining us and want a quick update on the opening 45, you can read our half-time report by clicking here.

Interestingly, West Ham are yet to have a shot on target as it was an own goal. They've got none of their five shots between the sticks, while QPR have had just one shot and Austin hit it straight at Adrian.

QPR SUB: One change at the break from Redknapp as he takes off the ineffectual Hoilett for Bobby Zamora.

That means that there are now three former Hammers in the QPR side with Zamora, Green and Ferdinand.

KICKOFF! The visitors, in desperate need of a better second half, get us back underway.

JUST WIDE! So close to an equaliser as Zamora makes an instant impact with a low cross into the middle that strike partner Austin sidefoots just wide of the upright. He probably should have done better with the chance.

BOOKING! Tomkins is the first Hammer to go into the book after a cynical foul on Zamora, who had rolled him in the middle of the park and was looking to break clear.

Will QPR have many better chances than that Austin one a few minutes ago? They only created one shot in the first half and will have to do better if they're to stand any chance of getting something out of this game.

If it stays this way then QPR will have to start pushing more men forward and with the likes of Amalfitano, Downing and Zarate going the other way, West Ham will fancy their chances of grabbing a second on the counter.

GOAL! WEST HAM 2-0 QPR (SAKHO)

It's another scrappy goal, but West Ham won't care as they're now two goals to the good. For Sakho it's his fifth goal in a Hammers shirt and surely the easiest of the lot as he nodded in Tomkins's hook across goal from a yard or so. Questionable defending from QPR and Redknapp won't be happy.

DISALLOWED! Valencia rolls the ball home for a third West Ham goal, but it's disallowed as the Ecuadorian wasn't 10 yards away from where Green was taking a free kick.



Sakho's four goals in the Premier League are the same amount as QPR's whole squad this season.

SHOT! Onuoha bursts forward from right-back and has a pop at goal from 25 yards. It's a good hit from the man who scored at the wrong end earlier, but was always rising over the top.

QPR SUB: Redknapp makes his second change, taking off Sandro for Adel Taarabt. Certainly a sign of attacking intent. QPR need something soon.

SAVE! Kranjcar was the hero for QPR recently with a late free kick to earn a point against Stoke and he almost does it again from a dead ball, but Adrian gets down low to his left to palm away.

Jenkinson wins a corner for West Ham after a good surge forward. From the resulting delivery Tomkins gets up to head at goal but he can't generate enough pace to trouble Green.

Bright again from Zarate, who twisted and turned in the middle before trying to thread the ball through to Valencia. There wasn't quite enough on the pass though and Onuoha slid in to make a great tackle.

WEST HAM SUB: Zarate, who had been probably been the man of the match so far, is taken off and replaced by Kevin Nolan.

QPR SUB: Final change for the visitors as Mutch makes his return from injury, taking the place of Kranjcar.

WHACK! Taarabt with a rocket from 25 yards that whistles just wide of the upright. It would have been some goal and just what QPR needed. With just over 10 minutes left, it's hard to see any way for the visitors to get anything out of this.

Another long-range effort from Rangers as Mutch lets fly from distance. It's another decent strike and dipping awkwardly, but Adrian clutches the ball to his chest.

BOOKING! Cresswell becomes the second Hammer in the book after sticking out a leg and tripping up Taarabt.

WEST HAM SUB: Jarvis makes his first appearance of the season by replacing the energetic Valencia.

CHANCE! It should be three! Nolan is found by Downing with a cutback but can only sidefoot into the hands of Green from about 12 yards out.

Here's Sakho putting the Hammers 2-0 up. Surely QPR can't come back from this now?

West Ham United's Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho scores their second goal as Queens Park Rangers' English goalkeeper Robert Green (R) looks on during the English Premier League football match on October 5, 2014© Getty Images

That header, incidentally, remains one of only two West Ham shots on target. The other being Nolan's chance a moment ago.

The fourth official's board tells us that there will be three minutes of added time.

FULL-TIME: WEST HAM 2-0 QPR

A routine win for West Ham then, with goals either side of half time from Onuoha (OG) and Sakho.

QPR remain without an away point all season and are now four goals worse off than their relegation contenders at the foot of the table. As for West Ham, they're up to eighth in the table and climb above both Arsenal and Liverpool.

Anyway, time for us to wrap up our live coverage of today's Premier League action. Click here to find links to all of today's scores and match reports and stick around for plenty more reaction from a busy day of action. See you again soon!

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West Ham's Sam Allardyce prior to kick-off against West Brom in the Premier League match on April 26, 2014
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