Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Queens Park Rangers: Reda Khadra ends Blackburn goal drought

Reda Khadra is on loan at Blackburn from Premier League side Brighton

Reda Khadra scored Blackburn Rovers' first league goal in more than nine hours to clinch a crucial win over play-off rivals Queens Park Rangers.

Khadra curled in a 77th-minute free-kick from a tight angle to give dominant Rovers a deserved home win.

Khadra had twice missed chances to put Rovers ahead in a buzzing first half.

Albert Adomah and Ilias Chair had QPR's best chances but they were indebted to substitute goalkeeper David Marshall for keeping them in it for so long.

The win was Rovers' first in six games and lifts Tony Mowbray's side above the R's into fourth in the Championship, four points off the automatic promotion places.

QPR's own tilt at a top-two finish took another hit, with Mark Warburton's team five points off second with only one win in their past six matches.

Rovers began the game like a team determined to put the disappointment of their late defeat by Sheffield United behind them and their supercharged start should have brought them a couple of goals.

But finding the net, especially without injured top-scorer Ben Brereton Diaz, has not been easy for Rovers and their lack of confidence was epitomised by Khadra who followed up his penalty miss against the Blades by wasting a glorious chance to put the home side in front after 15 minutes.

Sent clean through by Jan Paul van Hecke's beautiful cross-field ball, Khadra's effort was smothered by the onrushing Seny Dieng. Brighton loanee Khadra had another opportunity soon after but dragged his shot well wide from inside the box after a sweet one-two with Tyrhys Dolan.

Centre-back Darragh Lenihan then swept over from a good position from Rovers' sixth corner of the half.

QPR spent the opening 30 minutes soaking up Blackburn pressure but finally got their dangerous players into the game. A slick passing move saw Jeff Hendrick pick out Adomah's smart run down the right, but his low drive destined for the far corner was excellently parried away by Thomas Kaminski.

Moments later, Chris Willock cut the ball back from the dead-ball line but Chair sliced his shot wide from 12 yards.

R's keeper Dieng then got down smartly to stop Bradley Johnson's effort just before half-time after Sam Gallagher had stolen the ball following some sloppy defensive play, as Rovers' goal drought in the league stretched into a ninth hour.

Dieng was replaced at the break after failing to shake off a knock from a challenge with Gallagher, and his replacement David Marshall did well to parry away a rasping effort from Khadra.

The pattern of the second half pretty much followed the first with wave after wave of Rovers attacks with Khadra often the catalyst.

His pass fed substitute Ryan Giles whose deflected cross from the byeline needed another supple save from Marshall, before Khadra seized the chance to finally redeem himself.

Standing over the ball level with the six-yard box on the left, his whipped, dipping effort beat Marshall's desperate waft into the roof of the net to release the intense emotion inside Ewood Park.

Rovers' 11th home win of the season could have been more comfortable but for two excellent scrambling stops from Marshall to deny Dolan and Giles late on.

The only blemish was an injury to defender Ryan Nyambe, who was stretchered off midway through the second half with a suspected medial knee ligament injury, and will have a scan in the next couple days.

Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray:

"What a threat Khadra is to anybody, and yet can we sit here and criticise him for missing chances? Maybe, because if he wants to play in the Premier League for Brighton, he's got to take those chances.

"He's so tricky, so fast and powerful, got a rocket in his right foot. Yet chances came and were missed, but it's a growth area for him.

"He's one of those lads who practice every day. If a session finishes at 12pm, Khadra is still out there at 12.45pm. He's a kid on a journey.

"I hope he's talented enough to get to the Premier League."

QPR boss Mark Warburton:

"We looked a bit weary, a bit leggy. I said to the players it was my fault, I could have maybe freshened it up, but we trained well and the boys had a good camaraderie after Wednesday night.

"We knew that Blackburn would come out, press high with real energy, and we had to match that as a bare basic, and I don't think we did.

"I don't think we put three passes together in the first half an hour. They had a couple of one-on-ones; they could have scored through our errors.

"Second half, again, if teams are going to press you, go over the top. I don't think we showed enough nous. Did we do enough to win the game? I don't think we did, let's be fair."