10th April Sheffield United 1 Middlesbrough 2 (Attendance: 14,535)
Simonsen, Nosworthy (Riise 59), Mattock, Lowton, Collins, Montgomery, Quinn, Doyle, Evans (Bent 79), Bogdanovic (Yeates 65), Henderson.
Subs Not Used: Aksalu, Kozluk, McAllister, Cresswell.
Booked: Montgomery 10.
Man of The Match: Daniel Bogdanovic.
Middlebrough Line-up: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry (Buzsaky 86), Hall, Taarabt (Agyemang 71), Helguson, Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge, Smith (Miller 81).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Ephraim, Chimbonda, Shittu.
Booked: Hill 45.
Scorers: Routledge 29, 66, Faurlin 52.
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).
Wayne Routledge and Alejandro Faurlin netted as QPR beat Sheffield United 3-0 at Loftus Road to leave United seven points adrift in the relegation zone.
Striker Darius Henderson returned to the starting eleven after his suspension. Neill Collins returned in the centre of defence in place of Shane Lowrey who was apparently injured with a thigh strain. The Blades lined up with a 4-3-3 system with Daniel Bogdanovic and Ched Evans on the flanks supporting Henderson in attack. QPR made one change as Adel Taarabt returned replacing Hogan Ephraim. Paddy Kenny was in goal for the R’s and Heidar Helguson was the frontman.
The first chance went to Tommy Smith who had the picked up possession on 25 yards before dragging his shot wide of the left-hand post. Then a passing move from the hosts eventually ended in Taarabt sending over a low cross for Alejandro Faurlin, whose curling effort flew just over the bar.
QPR were in control and moments later, they missed arguably their best chance to take the lead. Smith turned Taarabt's initial corner back out to the Moroccan on the right and, after he guided the ball back across the face of the target, Clint Hill miscued his shot, dragging an effort wide from close range. But the R's didn't have to wait too much longer for the opening goal, with more free-flowing football eventually carving open a first on 29 minutes.
Influential midfielder Faurlin was heavily involved, as he swept a pass out wide for Helguson on the right. The Icelandic international's delivery was to perfection, with his cross finding Wayne Routledge at the back post, who made no mistake to bury an effort into the bottom right-hand corner past Blades goalkeeper Steve Simonsen from 12-yards out.
United hit back with a Bogdanovic shot from outside the box that was a comfortable save for Kenny. Bradley Orr almost doubled the R's lead soon after. The right-back picked up possession out wide on the right and a stunning effort from 30 yards curled inches over the left-hand upright.
Three minutes before the break Henderson and Bogdanovic flicked on to put Stephen Quinn clear with just Kenny to beat but the midfielder sliced his effort wide while under pressure from defender Fitz Hall.
Just after the interval United could have grabbed an equaliser, Nyron Nosworthy's cross from the right fell perfectly for Bogdanovic, only for the striker to blaze high and wide of the target with the goal at his mercy from 10-yards out.
However, play soon switched to the other end and, on 52 minutes, QPR doubled their advantage. Nosworthy conceded a corner and Taarabt delivered a from the left, Matthew Lowton could only clear as far as Faurlin on the edge of the box. The Argentinean playmaker made no mistake with his effort from 18-yards out that flew past Simonsen into the right-hand side of the net.
Despite the two-goal deficit, the Blades continued to battle and Evans fired wide and Henderson could not direct a Joe Mattock cross towards goal. Blades manager Micky Adams threw on Bjørn Helge_Riise and Mark Yeates, at the expense of Nosworthy and Bogdanovic, switching to 4-4-2 formation, with Montgomery moving to right-back. However, soon after, the home side added their third goal.
Faurlin, Smith, Helguson and Routledge exchanged passes before the ball eventually found its way out to the latter on the right-hand edge of the box, who drilled a low effort into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. And Routledge was denied of his hat-trick by only a spectacular piece of goalkeeping by Simonsen. Yeates was booked for a late foul on Kenny as he came out of his box to clear a ball. Soon after, Helguson headed over for the hosts and substitute Patrick Agyemang missed another chance for the hosts. The pressure from QPR continued and Simonsen had to save from both Faurlin and Smith. Late on, Adams made more substitutions but it made little difference to the outcome.
Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Middlesbrough.: Simonsen 6, Nosworthy 5, Mattock 6, Lowton 5, Collins 5, Montgomery 6, Doyle 6, Quinn 6, Yeates 5, Riise 7, Evans 6, Bent 6, Bogdanovic 7, Henderson 6.
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