Portsmouth fight back to claim first win of season as QPR drop to foot of table

Posted Sunday, October 20, 2024 by PA

Portsmouth came from behind to beat QPR 2-1 at Loftus Road to secure a first Championship win of the season and leave the west London side bottom of the table.

Karamoko Dembele’s maiden goal for Rangers gave them an early lead but Pompey hit back with Freddie Potts’ first goal since arriving on loan from West Ham.

And Callum Lang’s penalty 12 minutes into the second half gave Portsmouth their first victory in any competition since last season’s promotion from League One.

Rangers went ahead after a ninth-minute error by Nicolas Schmid, who raced outside his area and headed Jimmy Dunne’s long ball straight to Dembele, who lobbed the embarrassed Pompey keeper.

But the visitors hit back nine minutes later, when Lang got the better of Morgan Fox and his low ball into the danger area ricocheted off QPR midfielder Nicolas Madsen to Potts, who fired home from near the penalty spot.

Rangers playmaker Ilias Chair, fit again after a back injury and starting a game for the first time this season, squandered a great chance to restore his team’s lead on the half-hour mark.

Again Pompey were undone by a ball over the top, this time from Sam Field, leaving Chair through on goal, only for him to attempt a cheeky chip over Schmid which was gratefully gathered by the Austrian.

QPR keeper Paul Nardi was then called into action at the other end, diving to his left to push away a long-range effort from Christian Saydee.

And just before half-time, Schmid further atoned for his early mistake, doing well to keep out Dunne’s deflected header.

Schmid produced another save early in the second half, this time from a Dembele long-range strike, and Rangers seemed to be turning the screw before Fox gave away a penalty.

As Fox attempted to clear his lines on the left-hand side of the box, Lang nipped in and was hacked down by the R’s defender before the Pompey midfielder calmly tucked away the resulting spot-kick.

QPR threw plenty of bodies forward in search of an equaliser but never looked like finding one with Schmid comfortably keeping out a header from substitute Koki Saito.

Second-bottom Portsmouth will take great encouragement from this result while QPR, on the other hand, look to be in serious trouble.

Rangers have now lost four matches in a row, have won just one of their 10 league matches this season and are still without a home win.

The much-anticipated return of Chair did not bring the kind of improved performance they badly needed and boss Marti Cifuentes could come under pressure if they lose again on Tuesday at home to Coventry.