Sheff Wed win at QPR to boost survival hopes
Goals from substitutes Djeidi Gassama and Anthony Musaba gave Sheffield Wednesday a huge victory at Queens Park Rangers in their fight for Championship survival.
Isaac Hayden's attempted clearance cannoned into his own net off former Paris St-Germain player Gassama to give the Owls the lead.
Gassama then turned provider as he teed up Musaba to smash beyond Asmir Begovic.
Lucas Andersen struck an effort against the crossbar but QPR could not find a way past James Beadle at Loftus Road.
Wednesday are now just a point behind 21st-placed Huddersfield, while QPR remain in danger four points above the drop zone.
A Hoops win would have almost guaranteed them Championship football next season, but the Owls scored late to take all three points, just as they did when the two sides met at Hillsborough earlier in the season.
Chris Willock and Sinclair Armstrong had early shots for the home side but were unable to trouble Beadle in the Wednesday goal.
The lively Ian Poveda then whipped a cross across the QPR box to Josh Windass in a great position but he could not divert the ball in.
Poveda went off injured and was replaced by Gassama before the break, and he almost had an instant impact as he got in behind the Hoops defence before firing wide.
There was more than a slice of fortune about how Wednesday took the lead, as Gassama danced between defenders and got to the byeline before crossing into the box.
Hayden's clearance was straight at Gassama and bounced off him and into the net.
QPR were almost level within minutes as Danish midfielder Andersen sent a shot crashing against the crossbar with Beadle beaten.
Armstrong headed over late on as the Hoops chased an equaliser.
But Musaba's clinical finish in the sixth minute of added time rounded off a perfect afternoon for the visitors.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"I saw a big reaction from my team. I wanted to see a team who is fighting for this club, not thinking too much about the future.
"Some players showed in the past they're not ready for this fight, today I saw a team who was.
"We changed the shape and I changed five players.
"Gassama showed how important he can be when he fights like this, it was great."
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio London:
"It's a disappointing day and of course I'm responsible for the performances of my team, today we didn't deliver the performance that we wanted.
"Perhaps overall we had more clear-cut chances than them but they put the two in and in the end that's what matters in football.
"The first 60/70 minutes were not good at all, perhaps we needed to concede that goal to wake up and understand how important was this game.
"Everybody understands that unfortunately 46 points will not be enough [to stay up] and the reality is that there's still a lot of games to be played and we need to make sure we perform well."
Line-ups
QPR
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Begovic
3Dunne5S Cook6Clarke-Salter22Paal
14Hayden8Field
7Willock25Andersen10Chair
30Armstrong
- 1Begovic
- 3Dunne
- 5S Cook
- 6Clarke-SalterSubstituted forSmythat 69'minutes
- 22PaalSubstituted forFoxat 69'minutes
- 14HaydenBooked at 40minsSubstituted forDykesat 69'minutesBooked at 76mins
- 8Field
- 7Willock
- 25AndersenBooked at 90mins
- 10Chair
- 30ArmstrongSubstituted forAdomahat 90+3'minutes
Substitutes
- 9Dykes
- 11Smyth
- 15Fox
- 16Hodge
- 19Dixon-Bonner
- 20Cannon
- 21Larkeche
- 32Walsh
- 37Adomah
Sheff Wed
Formation 4-3-3
26Beadle
6Iorfa5Diaby20Ihiekwe23Famewo
24Smith2Palmer10Bannan
36Poveda12Ugbo11Windass
- 26Beadle
- 6Iorfa
- 5Diaby
- 20Ihiekwe
- 23FamewoSubstituted forPedersenat 81'minutes
- 24SmithSubstituted forValentÃnat 81'minutes
- 2PalmerBooked at 43mins
- 10BannanBooked at 90mins
- 36PovedaSubstituted forGassamaat 29'minutes
- 12UgboSubstituted forPatersonat 69'minutes
- 11WindassBooked at 40minsSubstituted forMusabaat 70'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Dawson
- 3Pedersen
- 4Vaulks
- 13Paterson
- 14ValentÃn
- 22Hendrick
- 41Gassama
- 42Cadamarteri
- 45Musaba
Match Stats
Live Text
Match ends, Queens Park Rangers 0, Sheffield Wednesday 2.