Harry Redknapp's first home game as QPR manager ends in stalemate against Aston Villa
Last Updated: December 1, 2012 10:08pm
Harry Redknapp's first home game as QPR manager ended in stalemate as Aston Villa held them to a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road.
Best of the match:
- Man of the match: Shaun Wright-Phillips was a real live wire for the Hoops all afternoon and could have ended up being the matchwinner if he could only have take his chance when he was left one-on-one with Brad Guzan.
- Goal of the match: QPR's equaliser was splendid as Jose Bosingwa and Samba Diakite combined to find Jamie Mackie in the box and his deft header landed in the far corner.
- Moment of the match: Harry Redknapp was greeted by a mass of noise as he made a grand entrance from the tunnel at Loftus Road.
- Save of the match: Guzan did well to deny Wright-Phillips and he was equally impressive after tipping Clint Hill's header onto the crossbar late on.
- Stats of the match: Redknapp is now unbeaten in his last 13 games against Aston Villa as a coach in the Premier League (W6 D7 L0) and he has also never lost a Premier League home debut as a manager.
- Talking point: Can Redknapp weave his magic and save QPR from relegation? Darren Bent was left on the bench by Paul Lambert, does this mean the end for the striker?
Villa took the lead against the run of play thanks to Brett Holman's piledriver, but Jamie Mackie restored parity with a deft header to rescue a point.
The result means Rangers equalled an unwanted Premier League record of 15 winless games at the start of the new season - an abysmal start that is only matched by the Swindon side of 1993/94.
The Rs boss had never previously lost a Premier League home debut as a manager, but that record looked under serious threat despite dominating early possession.
They were hit with a real sucker punch after eight minutes as Holman scored a first goal for Villa.
The Australian collected Ashley Westwood's pass on the edge of the area before unleashing a left-foot stunner past Robert Green, despite the goalkeeper's best efforts.
However, the Hoops hit back 10 minutes later as Mackie hit the target with a deft header into the far corner after excellent build-up play by Jose Bosingwa and Samba Diakite.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was unlucky not to give the hosts the lead soon after as his right-foot shot struck the base of the post with Brad Guzan beaten.
There were concerns late on in the half when Stephane Mbia was stretchered off after colliding with Gabby Agbonlahor in the middle of the park and the Cameroonian went to hospital for a precautionary check-up.
Clint Hill hit the crossbar with an 80th-minute header from an Adel Taarabt corner, but that was as close as they came in the second period as Paul Lambert's side defended resolutely and held on for a share of the spoils.
QPR are now seven points adrift of the safety line while Villa climbed above Sunderland into 16th position, albeit having played two games more.
| Queens Park Rangers | Team Statistics | Aston Villa |
| 1 | Goals | 1 |
| 1 | 1st Half Goals | 1 |
| 8 | Shots on Target | 2 |
| 4 | Shots off Target | 4 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 1 |
| 11 | Corners | 4 |
| 5 | Fouls | 6 |
| 9 | Offsides | 4 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 83 | Passing Success | 79 |
| 20 | Tackles | 21 |
| 75 | Tackles Success | 66.7 |
| 54.7 | Possession | 45.3 |
| 56 | Territorial Advantage | 44 |
| 446 | Total Passes | 385 |
| 33 | Total Crosses | 13 |
| 181 | Lost Balls | 163 |
| 57 | Recoveries | 29 |
| 56 | 1st Half Poss. | 44 |
| 51.5 | 2nd Half Poss. | 48.5 |
Post Comment
Matches
-
Barclays Premier League
Table
Barclays Premier League
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 37 | 88 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 37 | 78 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 37 | 72 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 37 | 70 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 | 69 |
| 6 | Everton | 37 | 63 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 37 | 58 |
| 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 37 | 48 |
| 9 | Swansea City | 37 | 46 |
| 10 | West Ham United | 37 | 43 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 37 | 41 |
| 12 | Norwich City | 37 | 41 |
| 13 | Newcastle United | 37 | 41 |
| 14 | Southampton | 37 | 40 |
| 15 | Fulham | 37 | 40 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 37 | 40 |
| 17 | Sunderland | 37 | 39 |
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 37 | 35 |
| 19 | Reading | 37 | 28 |
| 20 | Queens Park Rangers | 37 | 25 |
Related
QPR v Aston Villa
Lambert pleased with point
Paul Lambert was delighted after his Aston Villa side collected a valuable point at QPR.
Mbia does not regret QPR move
Stephane Mbia has no regrets at having linked up with QPR and has vowed to give his all in their basement battle.
Lambert aiming to spoil party
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert hopes his side can spoil the party at Loftus Road on Saturday by beating QPR.
