Burnley defeat QPR to go 3 points clear atop Championship

Burnley cruised to a dominant 3-0 away at Queens Park Rangers to go three points clear of the Championship table on Sunday.

Sheffield United had gone level on points earlier on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield but first half goals from Johann Gudmunsson and Ian Maatsen set the tempo to give the Clarets a well-deserved win.  

It was interesting to see whether Burnley could regain their form with the league resuming after a month off for the ongoing World Cup, but Gudmunsson’s fine free kick settled the nerves early at Loftus Road.

The home side could have equalized had Chris Willock not spurned a golden opportunity and were made to pay when Maatsen scored in the stoppage time of the first half.  

QPR goalkeeper Seny Dieng saved well from Vitinha’s free kick but left back Maatsen parried the rebound to give his side a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break.

Managerless QPR struggle

QPR are currently without a manager after the departure of head coach Micheal Beale who left to take over the reins at Scottish giants Rangers. The hosts hardly troubled the away side after the resumption.

Nathan Tella made it 3-0 in the 71^st minute after Burnley took full advantage of an error from Jimmy Deane. The former Burnley player played a catastrophic chested back pass that allowed Tella to nip in, the latter who rounded Dinag before slotting home from a tight angle.

QPR slide down the table

This was QPR’s fourth consecutive league defeat that leaves them 9^th in the table and the hierarchy at Loftus Road need to act swiftly to ensure their season doesn’t drift away.

Burnley though would be overjoyed with the performance with their aim of securing promotion to their Premier League after being relegated last season.

Vincent Kompany’s side have scored 43 goals this season and this was the seventh time they have managed to find the back of the net at least three times in a match.

Kompany later said, “They did well and worked hard to make sure they had momentum.

We took the game to them. I thought we played really well in the first half and did everything we set out to do perfectly.

In the second half we had a spell where we needed to grind it out and be a bit more compact and organized, and even then we did well and were still dangerous. The lads can be proud.”

Photo credit: IMAGO / Action Plus