QPR look poor - another goal and it’ll be a comfortable win for us. I agree that MW isn’t on his game. Hopefully he’ll improve in the second half.
We really need to put this game to bed!
Boro completely in control of the game and seem to have as much time as they want on the ball but for all the possession just the one goal. Hopefully they can get another early in the second half as these are three points for the taking.
bte the Boro Live commentary has been one second ahead of the picture so have been watch with the sound off as knowing what has happened before you see it is pointless!
Lots of”nearly” passes that would probably have resulted in a goal. But we did not get them and only one shot on target I think.
Need to be better with the final pass, as QPR have had a couple of chances and will get more in the second half.
Sky saying Fry’s hamstring.
Boro ahead but there is little to beat and I cannot share Lee Hendrie's view that we are playing with a lot of flair and creativity. Whittaker is having a shocker and most of our attacks have floundered on his mis-controls, stumbles, and failure to find a man. Our goal came from two shocking misses from Whittaker, putting a sitter well wide and even fluffing the rebound before it went in.
Other than that we have not tested their keeper, and we need to come out with a sub for Whittaker and put the game to bed
Most of our moves seem to be masterminded and orchestrated by Ayling, which tells you a lot.
The all-important second goal - Browne in the 68th minute. Beeb commentary:
Daylight for Boro. Some goal too. A corner is only half-cleared from the goalmouth by a defender and Luke Ayling somehow controls the bouncing ball, steps back and lofts a delicate angled volley over Joe Walsh, which kisses the underside of the bar and bounces down for Alan Browne to nod into the unguarded net at the back stick.
The players know how big that could be... you can see it in their celebration.
Sarmiento & Conway on for Whittaker & Strelec in the 65th minute.
A Boro3 for OFB
We were lucky to get the second from a corner which was not a corner but the third was a thing of beauty.
Just want a clean sheet now. 😎
The all-important second goal - Browne in the 68th minute. Beeb commentary:
Daylight for Boro. Some goal too. A corner is only half-cleared from the goalmouth by a defender and Luke Ayling somehow controls the bouncing ball, steps back and lofts a delicate angled volley over Joe Walsh, which kisses the underside of the bar and bounces down for Alan Browne to nod into the unguarded net at the back stick.
The players know how big that could be... you can see it in their celebration.
Sarmiento & Conway on for Whittaker & Strelec in the 65th minute.
Make that the return of Boro3: HH in the 72nd minute, assisted by TC! 🙂
Beeb: Just too good... him, the goal, and Boro.
Doing the GD a power of good - now only four fewer than Ipswich! 🙂
Gilbert & Castledine on for Hackney & McGree in the 83rd minute.
A Boro3 for OFB
Sounds like the start of a rhyme…
Boro3 for OFB,
Strelec, Browne and Hackney,
The clean sheet we haven’t seen for a while,
Much like OFB’s cheeky smile,
Four points clear in second go we,
Boro3 for OFB
Never in doubt! 😉😎. Goal difference to Ipswich now down to three.
0-4 - TC penalty in the 88th minute: won it, took it & scored it! 🙂
Maddo makes Aidan Morris his MotM:
He has been absolutely everywhere. He's constantly been on the ball and he still wants it, even now.
More from the Beeb's text commentary:
Boro might be the streakiest team in the Championship at the moment, but when they are on it, they are ON it and today, they really were. The confidence oozed through their approach play at a difficult ground against a committed team, where Coventry came a cropper just five weeks ago remember. David Strelec's opening goal on 20 minutes was not a thing of beauty, the ball deflecting off his arm from Morgan Whittaker's bobbling shot, but the rest were.
QPR began the second half well and Boro had to wait until 68 minutes to make the points safe as Alan Browne nodded in the rebound after Luke Ayling's sumptuous chipped volley came back off the bar while Hayden Hackney curled a glorious third soon after and sub Tommy Conway added some gloss with a late fourth from the penalty spot.
On this display, Boro will be very tough to stop, but the Championship can be a cruel mistress and who knows what the final 10 games have in store.
That's also a first clean sheet in 13 games on the road for Kim Hellberg's side. Their last came against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Incredibly, Boro have also rewritten their own record books... after wins at Millwall and Charlton, they have now won three games in London in the same season for the first time in their 150-year history.
On this evidence you think they'll have bigger things to celebrate in the next couple of months, however...
I was worried that we might have been a bit too relaxed first half, playing the ball across the back far too often. I worried that Rangers’ early second half improvement might make us pay.
No such worries! That was an outstanding second half, with all the subs also playing very well. Some of our one-touch football was absolutely glorious!
Apart from Whittaker - and perhaps we’ll forgive him after this result - everybody had a great game.
Over the moon! UTB.
Boro looked in control in the first half and just needed to go up a few gears to seal a comfortable win - which they did as QPR just struggled to get near them all game. Some good moves and passing with two-touch control and pass opened up the opportunities - Hackney's goal was the pick but so the ones from Morris that got the penalty and Ayling's composure that hit the bar before Browne got the rebound. Ayling was impressive in both halves of the pitch and Morris looked as good as he has ever been - plus the drive from Hackney keeps the team moving forward and McGree is such a overall smooth intelligent player. Job more than done this evening and if Boro can increase the gap over the coming games then it will be a hard one to overcome as the games run out!
@stircrazy - Thanks for that link as I hadn't been able to watch the game. Great goal!
If anyone is unhappy with THAT performance and result, they must be very hard to please. I am sure OFB would be happy with the extra goal. Unless he'd put £50 on the three.
This is now looking good and everything is in Boro's hands. No need to rely on help from other teams in the run-in from this position. We do not need to catch up on other teams to secure promotion (unless the title is the aim rather than "mere" automatic promotion). We don't need snookers, just to do our own job!
An excellent result and from the sounds of it well deserved. Will watch the highlights although HH goal was a peach!
10 games to go and without being too negative, there is still a lot of football to be played and some, let’s say, interesting games ahead. I am hoping that we secure promotion before the last game of the season as potentially Wrexham could be playing for a play off place.
Anyway, a family outing on Wednesday evening up the A1 and A19 and a repeat performance will be much appreciated and needed. That said, I don’t expect Charlton to be a pushover and suspect they will be parking the bus.
KH selection and formation will, as always be the key. Looks like Charlton play with 3 at the back with 5 in midfield so we will have to find a way through that.
UTB
Agree that it is in our own hands/feet! The trouble is that I have been watching Boro for many many years (as have many of us - wonder what the combined number of years is! ) and do not take anything for granted - typical Boro has a habit of rearing its head when we least expect it.
However, I do feel more optimistic this season given our league position and the way we are playing under KH.
Come on Boro
Welcome back OFB, hope you are on the road to recovery and good luck for Thursday, Boro certainly welcomed you back in style.
Come on BORO.
Reviewing the game this was a stroll in the park. Accurate passing, good movement off the ball, played with lots of confidence and a comfortable victory.
By comparison QPR were awful and lacking in confidence.
So why was I a bit anxious at half time ? Cos Boro were only leading 1-0, they were lacking a clinical edge to score more goals, Whittaker’s first touch was awful, Boro are not good at keeping a clean sheet and I thought QPR couldn’t be as bad in the second half half.
So, I was much happier when Boro scored a second goal and after that it became easier still. Sadly Fry had to go off injured after not putting a foot wrong and Malanda looked much more assured as a central defender compared to playing more as a left back.
Looking to the future , Boro needn’t fear any team and hopefully with 4 of the next 6 games at home they can consolidate second position. The season may come down to the results against Ipswich and Millwall. That’s for the future, so tonight it’s all about enjoying the convincing 4-0 win.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍😂😂👍
@forever-dormo I thoroughly agree with that comment. We’ve got to start enjoying these games in the moment. Whilst watching the game there wasn’t any point when I thought we’d get fewer than 3 points.
Yes, MW was off his game and we played a few poor passes in the first half, but throughout, we were simply too good for QPR.
We’ll never put in a perfect performance (football isn’t like that) but in KH we’ve got a thoughtful manager who really does take every game as it comes. He’s not wedded to a fixed line up nor is he afraid to change the team when it’s needed.
Will we win all of our last 10 games? Probably not, but I wouldn’t bet against us getting automatic promotion in either of the top two positions.
Let’s enjoy what we’ve got and accept we’ve got a great team at the moment - one that most supporters must envy throughout the Championship.
Experience plays a massive part now so the excellent contributions of Browne and Ayling dovetailed very nicely indeed with Hackney and Morris in particular.
looking at the form tables, would we say that we are better playing away from home at the moment?
I guesss I should just concentrate on beating Charlton on Wednesday and hopefully 3 points. UTB
Ayling M-o-M for me edging out superb displays from Hackney, Morris and Browne.
He set the pace and tempo of our game from the back in the manner of a Beckenbauer, with a variety of short and then long probing balls. It was his piece of exquisite skill to set up the second vital goal which opened the floodgates and enabled the Boro to relax and add to their high intensity a confident passing game that had the pundits salivating, and justifiably so.
Just before that vital goal, Ayling had prevented QPR from equalising with a superb block. Without that intervention we might have seen a very different game.
Whilst dominating possession I don't think we played particularly well against inferior opposition After the second goal we played sumptuous football and the hope has to be that the team has gained enough confidence from the ultimate manner of this victory to be able to reproduce this kind of quality from the kick-off in future matches.
A very satisfying and enjoyable afternoon all round. I hope it provided Bob with just the tonic he needs.
Friends
I can now confirm that Boro are officially safe from relegation for another season. It’s been a close run thing. Phew! 😂😉
For info, I’ll post the Charlton preview Monday evening, which should allow most people to comment on Boro’s tremendous win at QPR.