Kjerrumgaard scores twice as Watford beat QPR

Luca Kjerrumgaard scored his first goals in English football as Watford beat QPR

Luca Kjerrumgaard scored twice as Watford beat QPR to give Paulo Pezzolano his first win as Hornets head coach.

Kjerrumgaard, signed on loan from Italian club Udinese this summer, netted his first goals in English football, pouncing twice in the space of four first-half minutes.

It proved decisive for Watford, who ended the match with 10 men after Imran Louza was sent off in the final couple of minutes for a crude challenge on Jonathan Varane.

Kieran Morgan's thumping strike in first-half stoppage time gave Rangers hope, but they were unable to find an equaliser and are yet to win under new boss Julien Stephan.

They went closest to a leveller when new signing Richard Kone was denied by Marc Bola's clearance off the line shortly after coming on as a substitute for his R's debut.

Kjerrumgaard opened his account after being set up by fellow recent signing Nestory Irankunda, who ran on to Edo Kayembe's pass down the left and laid the ball across for the Danish striker to slot past keeper Joe Walsh.

And when Louza then delivered a precise cross from the right flank, Kjerrumgaard doubled Watford's lead by heading in from close range after drifting away from QPR defender Steve Cook.

Rangers were brought back into the game just before the interval when Morgan brilliantly blasted home from near the edge of the penalty area.

They pushed for an equaliser in the second half and Kone, signed from Wycombe this week, was sent on for the final 20 minutes.

The striker almost made the perfect start to his QPR career but his near-post flick from Ilias Chair's corner was blocked by Bola.

Sam Field also had an opportunity to level late on but shot wide after being set up by teenage left-back Esquerdinha.

Stephan's side face a tough task in their next match, away to Coventry next Saturday, when Watford will be away at Swansea.

'The players needed this' - reaction

Watford boss Paulo Pezzolano told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"I'm very happy, especially for the players because they needed this.

"You need these victories to sustain the process. What's important to us is to build the process - for the players to understand what we want and how we're going to do it. That's a long process and it's a long season.

"In the second half, even though we had to go back a little bit, the opponent didn't have clear chances and we could have scored more goals.

"When we control the game we control the game, but if not then we have to know how to suffer."

QPR head coach Julien Stephan told BBC Radio London:

"Two completely different halves. The first half was too poor, honestly. It was not good enough.

"The second one was completely different, with more intensity and quality. I'm very happy with the second half but very disappointed with the first.

"It's hard to imagine getting a good result when you only play 45 minutes. We need to react more quickly.

"We want to play like that (in the second half) and want to see the team like this. I hope quickly we will be able to play like this for 90 minutes and not only 45. This is the challenge."