Derby County 0-1 Queens Park Rangers: Macaulay Bonne earns three points for Londoners
- Published
Macaulay Bonne heads home his third goal of the season for QPR
Macaulay Bonne's late goal extended Derby County's winless run in the Championship as Queens Park Rangers took all three points at Pride Park.
Substitute Bonne headed in centre-back Robert Dickie's excellent cross in the 87th minute to give the visitors their third win of the season.
Derby skipper Wayne Rooney thought he had grabbed the opener with a stunning volley in the 50th minute, only to see the ball cannon away off the outside of the post.
And for all of Derby's possession, they created very few clear-cut chances and Phillip Cocu's side have now gone six games without a victory.
Derby, who have won just once in the league this season, started on the back foot, with Rs forward Lyndon Dykes testing keeper David Marshall with a fine early header.
The two sides largely cancelled each other out in the opening period, although the hosts also went close through Rooney, who saw his low shot from a tight angle tipped round the post by Seny Dieng.
QPR's Dickie had an opening in the second half, sidefooting off target just before the hour mark after Tom Carroll's set-piece out wide was flicked on by Albert Adomah.
But the defender turned unlikely playmaker for the visitors in the closing stages, stepping out of the back four to deliver an out-swinging cross to Bonne, who headed home powerfully for Mark Warburton's side.
The victory sees Rangers rise to 16th in the Championship table, while Derby are now 23rd - and just one point above Sheffield Wednesday, after the Yorkshire club had a 12-point deduction halved earlier in the day.
Derby manager Phillip Cocu:
"We cannot look at other teams, we have to look at ourselves and win games to get out of the bottom positions.
"I don't think anybody can be happy at this moment. We all expected more, but we are in this position and we have to make sure we get out.
"It doesn't change any ambition we had and still have but we need to focus now on getting results because we have to make sure the gap doesn't grow on the teams above us.
"I think slowly we are heading in a positive direction, no wins but we are really close, so a home defeat is tough on the players."
QPR boss Mark Warburton:
"I thought we were in complete control first half, we dominated but I thought they came back into the game and we were sloppy and gave the ball away too cheaply.
"Their attacking quality is very clear but they were committing bodies forward pushing for the victory and leaving gaps behind which we had to try and exploit and thankfully we did that.
"To come here and deliver that performance, keep a clean sheet and get a 1-0 victory is very pleasing.
"At this early stage of the season, any team that puts a run together, two or three wins in a row and the whole dynamic of the table changes very, very quickly."
Watch 13 first-round ties on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app this weekend. Find out more here.
