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The Guardian |
Fulham (3) 4-0 (0) QPR
Fulham striker Ross McCormack scored twice as Fulham thrashed QPR 4-0 in the west London derby at Craven Cottage.
QPR would have moved up to third in the Championship with a win but goals from Moussa Dembélé, Ben Pringle and McCormack in the first 31 minutes scuppered that plan.
McCormack then wrapped up a convincing victory with his second just after the hour as Fulham moved to within a point of their opponents.
It took Fulham 116 seconds to take the lead thanks to Dembélé's towering downward header past Robert Green. James Husband provided the cross from the left and the forward leapt to meet it as his marker, Gabriele Angella, remained grounded.
Fulham were back on the attack again not long after and Dembélé was involved once more in setting McCormack free on the left of the box but the Scot fired into the side netting from a tight angle.
It took Rangers a while to muster a reply but a burst of speed from the Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks was enough to stop Charlie Austin from latching on to a through-ball.
A decent chance was then carved out by the visitors, with Austin involved in a swift interchange of passes that saw Massimo Luongo burst through on the left only to find the side netting as well.
It was to prove costly as Fulham went down the other end and doubled their lead through Pringle in the 19th minute, although the visitors had only themselves to blame.
Pringle, signed from Rotherham in the summer, had seen his pass cut out by a defender but he was in the right place when Alejandro Faurlín surrendered possession cheaply and he drilled the ball past Green from 20 yards.
Rangers were rocking and needed Angella to slide and prevent McCormack from setting up a team-mate in front of goal.
The reprieve was short-lived, however, as McCormack made it 3-0 in the 31st minute to cap a fine move that saw Tom Cairney's pass open up the Rangers defence once again.
Chris Ramsey made an instant change with Tjaronn Chery replaced by Jamie Mackie with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, which ended with Dembélé seeing an effort saved and McCormack firing wide from range.
Rangers, who replaced Mackie with Leroy Fer at half-time, looked more potent after the break but Richard Stearman did well to stop James Perch in the box before the Fulham goalkeeper, Andrew Lonergan, dived to keep out Paul Konchesky's header.
Fulham remained on top, however, and Perch did well to avert danger before McCormack fired straight at Green. Rangers then made another change when Austin was forced off by injury in the 59th minute and Daniel Tozser came on.
McCormack made it 4-0 on the rebound in the 63rd minute after Fredericks had set up Dembélé, who saw his shot under pressure loop up and hit the bar.
Ryan Tunnicliffe forced Green into another save with a shot from distance but Fulham fans' demands for a repeat of the 6-0 thrashing of Rangers in October 2011 did not come to pass, although the substitutes Cauley Woodrow and Kay Voser both went close to scoring a fifth.