Queens Park Rangers aren't out of the drop zone, but they're off the bottom of the table and within sight of safety after a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. For the Villains, it was a fifth straight defeat in succession, and they're down to 15th despite a brilliant start to the season.
3 things we learned from Queens Park Rangers’ 2-0 win over Aston Villa
QPR built off an encouraging performance last week, while Villa appear to be falling into a black hole.
Villa were well on top early, creating some decent chances. Ashley Westwood had a half-volley stopped in the 4th minute and Carlos Sanchez forced Rob Green into a stop in the 15th minute. But QPR took the lead in the 17th minute, capitalizing on their first chance of the game.
The move was as direct and simple as they come. Bobby Zamora knocked down a long ball for Charlie Austin, who took one touch, stepped into it and ripped a shot from 20 yards that Brad Guzan couldn't stop.
This pattern continued for most of the game. Villa were the better side, passing the ball much more effectively than QPR, but couldn't actually do anything. The defensive midfield pair of Sandro and Karl Henry were effective in stifling play, letting Villa have plenty of the ball, but not do anything dangerous with it.
Austin scored a second in the 69th minute, capitalizing on a bad Villa turnover. Sanchez gave the ball away when his teammates were completely out of position, allowing Eduardo Vargas to run free down the right wing. He curled a perfect cross to the near post, and Austin was there to meet it and double QPR's lead.
Green had to do some work to preserve a shutout for QPR, and capped off a good performance with an 80th minute double save on Ciaran Clark, then a rebound that deflected off one of his own defenders. Ultimately, Villa didn't come any closer to scoring than that.
Queens Park Rangers: Green, Yun, Dunne, Caulker, Isla, Fer (Krancjar 90’), Henry, Sandro, Vargas (Traore 87’), Zamora (Hoilett 63’), Austin
Goals: Austin (17’, 69’)
Aston Villa: Guzan, Cissokho, Vlaar, Clark, Lowton, Westwood (Cole 70’), Sanchez, Cleverley, Agbonlahor, Benteke, Weimann (Bent 70’)
Goals: None.
Three things
1. Aston Villa's schedule ruined them -- Remember when Aston Villa started the season brilliantly, then ran into a buzzsaw of a schedule? Well, they made Queens Park Rangers look like a team of Chelsea or Arsenal's quality. It's like they're so used to playing top sides that they had no idea what to do with QPR.
2. You can suck at passing if you have Charlie Austin -- Almost everything QPR did up until their second goal was ugly. They couldn’t keep the ball to save their lives and they didn’t really care to. Ultimately, it didn’t matter because Austin applied excellent finishes to both of their first two decent chances. He’s the kind of player who can keep a bad team in the Premier League.
3. We may have a real relegation race! -- Perhaps there aren't four or five bad teams, clearly below the pack. QPR and Newcastle both won this week, and Villa's sliding down the table. Are there going to be eight or nine teams seriously in danger of going down this year?
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