Match ends, Hull City 3, Queens Park Rangers 0.
Hull City maintained their Championship play-off hopes with a resounding victory over struggling QPR, who remain in danger of relegation.
First-half goals from Ozan Tufan and Fabio Carvalho put City in control and any prospect of a Rangers fightback was crushed by Jaden Philogene scoring early in the second half.
It was the Tigers' first home win in more than two months, although their joy was tempered by promotion rivals Norwich scoring a late winner at Preston.
That meant the Canaries, who occupy the final play-off spot, remained six points clear of the seventh-placed Tigers, who have played a game fewer.
Rangers, meanwhile, are three points above the drop zone. The gap to third-from-bottom Huddersfield would have been just two points had the Terriers not conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City.
Tufan opened the scoring when he cut in from the right and curled a superb shot beyond keeper Asmir Begovic and in off the underside of the bar.
It was Tufan's ninth goal of the season and the Turk then turned provider to send through Carvalho, who coolly dinked the ball over Begovic.
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes made a double change at half-time, bringing on Northern Ireland forward Paul Smyth and replacing right-back Jimmy Dunne, who had been given a torrid time by Philogene, with Reggie Cannon.
Almost immediately, Smyth had a glorious chance to haul Rangers back into the game but fired wide after being set up by Ilias Chair's cross.
It proved to be a costly miss because Hull scored their third shortly afterwards. Sam Field could only head Tyler Morton's cross as far as Philogene, who volleyed past Begovic.
Smyth then missed another great chance, latching on to Field's pass and rounding keeper Ryan Allsop only for his weak shot to allow Matty Jacob to clear off the line.
Cannon also cleared off the line to deny Liam Delap after the on-loan Manchester City youngster had lobbed Begovic.
Delap came on as a second-half substitute for his first appearance after more than three months out injured.
Hull boss Liam Rosenior told BBC Radio Humberside:
"It's been coming, analysing our performances, the areas we get to and the control and dominance we've had in a lot of the games. The difference today was that we were really clinical.
"The players are showing a level of performance that gives me so much confidence going forward. We've got a tough game against Watford next week and all we can do is focus on winning that and see where we end up.
"We just keep going. This club has always kept going until the end and I refuse to give up.
"If we keep playing with that belief and quality there's no reason why we can't make what we set out to achieve."
QPR manager Marti Cifuentes said:
"I was really disappointed with the result. We played against a very good team and they showed their quality after we made a good start to the game.
"I am now not thinking about the narrative of this game - now it is time to move on. Now is the time to stay calm. We have three games to go - two of them at home - so it is up to us.
"I have been saying it (safety) could be (decided) until the last minute of the season.
"Five months ago, perhaps even one month ago, we could only dream (to be 19th in the table). People thought this would be a walk in the park but that is not the case.
"It's up to us. We need to remain together and keep pushing."
Line-ups
Hull
Formation 4-4-2
- 17Allsop
- 27SlaterBooked at 75mins
- 5Jones
- 4Greaves
- 29Jacob
- 50ÖmürSubstituted forGilesat 68'minutes
- 15MortonBooked at 79minsSubstituted forChristieat 90'minutes
- 24SeriSubstituted forDochertyat 85'minutes
- 23Philogene
- 7TufanSubstituted forDelapat 68'minutes
- 45CarvalhoSubstituted forTraoréat 85'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Giles
- 8Docherty
- 10Traoré
- 12Sharp
- 20Delap
- 30Pandur
- 33Christie
- 43Ashbee
- 44Connolly
QPR
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Begovic
- 3DunneBooked at 36minsSubstituted forCannonat 45'minutes
- 5S Cook
- 6Clarke-Salter
- 15FoxSubstituted forLarkecheat 84'minutes
- 14HaydenSubstituted forColbackat 73'minutes
- 8Field
- 7Willock
- 25AndersenSubstituted forSmythat 45'minutes
- 10Chair
- 9DykesSubstituted forArmstrongat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Colback
- 11Smyth
- 16Hodge
- 19Dixon-Bonner
- 20Cannon
- 21Larkeche
- 22Paal
- 30Armstrong
- 32Walsh
- Referee:
- Tom Nield
- Attendance:
- 21,225
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home54%
- Away46%
- Shots
- Home7
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away3
- Corners
- Home4
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away17
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Hull City 3, Queens Park Rangers 0.
Post update
Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Matty Jacob.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Cyrus Christie replaces Tyler Morton.
Post update
Tyler Morton (Hull City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Sinclair Armstrong (Queens Park Rangers).
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Greg Docherty replaces Jean Seri.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Adama Traoré replaces Fábio Carvalho.
Substitution
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Sinclair Armstrong replaces Lyndon Dykes.
Substitution
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Ziyad Larkeche replaces Morgan Fox.
Post update
Fábio Carvalho (Hull City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Jack Colback (Queens Park Rangers).
Post update
Attempt missed. Steve Cook (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high following a corner.
Post update
Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Regan Slater.
Post update
Offside, Queens Park Rangers. Jake Clarke-Salter is caught offside.
Booking
Tyler Morton (Hull City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Tyler Morton (Hull City).
Post update
Chris Willock (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Liam Delap (Hull City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alfie Jones with a through ball.
Post update
Fábio Carvalho (Hull City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
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Didn’t even need to have any up front, we should’ve just kept it shut at the back in numbers.
Ah well. Hopefully he learned for the next games
I found myself hoping he would get injured or sent off!