Q.P.R. 4, PRESTON 0

THE irony would not have been lost on QPR legend Rodney Marsh.

Here he was, a guest of the club's '12th man' campaign - introduced to bring the atmosphere back to an increasingly sparse Loftus Road.

Yet so impressive was Rangers' performance, they did not need any gimmicks to get the place rocking.

Back in the '70s, Marsh often lifted the crowd single-handedly. And while Jim Magilton's men are not yet in his class, this was another step forward.

Four goals - two of them contenders for Rangers' Goal of the Season, by the superb Adel Taarabt and Wayne Routledge - secured victory for Magilton's men.

The QPR boss beamed: "Adel is a genius and has quality in bucketfuls. His finish was pure class.

"That was the best performance since I've been here. There was a great deal of gloom following Martin Rowlands' injury and that performance was dedicated to him."

Skipper Rowlands picked up a cruciate knee ligament injury with the Republic of Ireland and is out for the season. But Rangers shrugged off the loss and were ahead on 11 minutes.

Taarabt, on loan from Spurs, skipped past two challenges before firing home from 25 yards.

It was two after 63 minutes when Neil Mellor fouled Taarabt and Akos Buzsaky converted the penalty.

Jay Simpson grabbed a third with 15 minutes left and Routledge rounded it off near the end by beating two men and drilling home his shot.

Preston boss Alan Irvine said: "Their third goal killed us but QPR were the better team overall."

This article has 0 comments