Rotherham United 3-1 Queens Park Rangers: Jordan Hugill scores twice in Millers win
- Published
- comments
Jordan Hugill's last goal before his two against QPR - the second of which came from the penalty spot - was for Norwich against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup in August
Jordan Hugill's double eased Rotherham's Championship relegation fears and dragged QPR closer to the bottom three.
Hugill netted his first Millers goal since his January move from Norwich, converting Chiedozie Ogbene's cross.
The former Hoops striker doubled his tally with a second-half penalty after Rob Dickie brought him down.
Jamal Lowe blasted in a spot-kick of his own to halve the deficit before Hakeem Odoffin made the points safe for Rotherham with a late third.
Hugill, who spent a successful loan period with QPR during the 2019-20 season, was handed the captain's armband by Millers boss Matt Taylor and led by example as he fired his side into a 15th-minute lead.
The lively Ogbene was the architect of the goal, collecting Tarique Fosu's ball to the right and delivering a perfect cross for Hugill to slot into the bottom corner.
Rangers might have levelled soon afterwards when Albert Adomah's cross reached Stefan Johansen, but the midfielder's first-time effort was superbly tipped over at close range by near namesake Viktor Johansson.
At the other end, Seny Dieng was called into action to deny Rotherham a second, forcing Odoffin's angled shot behind and then saving from Shane Ferguson on the counter-attack.
Rangers battled hard after the break and Sam Field, Jimmy Dunne and Lowe all went close, but Hugill's successful spot-kick left them facing an uphill task.
Substitute Sinclair Armstrong earned the visitors a lifeline, powering his way into the box only to be felled by Wes Harding and Lowe slammed in the resulting penalty.
However, the Millers wrapped up victory with a third goal in added time as Georgie Kelly's shot was charged down and fell for Odoffin to fire low past Dieng.
The win lifted Rotherham to 18th place - eight points clear of the bottom three and above QPR, who have now lost five in a row.
Rotherham manager Matt Taylor told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"It was important today that we clawed back the group ahead of us, including QPR. It was a hell of a battle.
"QPR have a manager who knows how to get the best out of players. I thought we stood up to the majority of it and had a couple of moments of quality to get us ahead.
"Jordan's contribution is outstanding - he gives us a fantastic platform and finally we got a couple of good deliveries in the box for him.
"He finished well and you could see a bit of release. He can go home happy and content but we need him to keep producing."
QPR head coach Gareth Ainsworth told BBC Radio London:
"The spirit, energy and desire from my boys, I can't fault. What I can fault is moments in both boxes.
"I didn't think there was much in the middle of the park today and it is both boxes that have defined the game.
"We didn't hit the target enough and we've had lots of chances. A few of them fell to our centre-halves and if I'm, honest, I want those to fall to the goalscorers in the team.
"But at the other end there was a little bit of naivety on a couple of goals and that was disappointing. If you switch off or you're a little bit naive at crucial moments you get punished."