Match ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Wigan Athletic 1.
QPRQueens Park Rangers2WiganWigan Athletic1
Wigan Athletic remain in the Championship's bottom three as goals from Matt Smith and Conor Washington earned QPR victory at Loftus Road.
Washington crossed for Smith to sweep in Rangers' opener from 12 yards, his second goal in two games.
Omar Bogle levelled for the visitors, scoring from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Joel Lynch.
Washington's finish from the edge of the area won it for Ian Holloway's men, who are 10 points above the drop zone.
Wigan, who had taken four points from their previous two matches without conceding a goal, would have moved out of the relegation zone with a win but they found QPR goalkeeper Alex Smithies in excellent form.
Smithies denied Bogle a second goal and kept out Jake Buxton efforts either side of half-time before Washington's winner.
Having struggled to find the net frequently under previous QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the former Newport and Peterborough striker has now scored four goals in six appearances for the west London club.
QPR manager Ian Holloway:
"We got an ugly win but the character has come and you can see that the lads are growing.
"The work-rate is there. They're all wearing the shirt with so much pride. Even if we had drawn that game I still would have been happy with their effort. I can't ask for any more from any one of them.
"We're getting that feeling that we can win games, and that's absolutely vital. We need a feeling that we can be good at this level and are moving forward."
Wigan Athletic boss Warren Joyce:
"They were two poor goals to concede. For the first goal we were wide open to a long kick down the middle. We did well to come back and were good value for the 1-1 at half-time.
"We were certainly under plenty of pressure from how direct they were. We know the lad (Matt Smith) wins a lot of balls in the air and that we had to get to the second ball.
"For the second goal we don't pick the second ball up - it's straight through on the back four.
"They were poor goals, not goals where you're carved open. The fitness and desire were there and we could have got an equaliser near the end."
Line-ups
QPR
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Smithies
- 5Onuoha
- 4HallSubstituted forLua Luaat 29'minutes
- 6LynchBooked at 15mins
- 29Furlong
- 41Manning
- 2Freeman
- 3Bidwell
- 15Wszolek
- 9WashingtonSubstituted forN'Gbakotoat 69'minutes
- 17SmithSubstituted forSyllaat 76'minutesBooked at 76mins
Substitutes
- 12Mackie
- 13Ingram
- 21Luongo
- 23N'Gbakoto
- 24Perch
- 28Lua Lua
- 40Sylla
Wigan
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 35Gilks
- 12Connolly
- 3BuxtonBooked at 61mins
- 33Burn
- 23Warnock
- 6PowerBooked at 35mins
- 26HansonBooked at 46minsSubstituted forMandronat 81'minutes
- 8Morsy
- 19Tunnicliffe
- 9GriggBooked at 30minsSubstituted forObertanat 73'minutes
- 14BogleBooked at 22mins
Substitutes
- 4Perkins
- 11Obertan
- 13Kellett
- 37Laurent
- 39Mandron
- 46Roberts
- 47Weir
- Referee:
- James Linington
- Attendance:
- 12,101
Match Stats
Home TeamQPRAway TeamWigan
- Possession
- Home51%
- Away49%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away4
- Corners
- Home4
- Away6
- Fouls
- Home13
- Away20
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Wigan Athletic 1.
Post update
Attempt missed. Luke Freeman (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Post update
Kazenga Lua Lua (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic).
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Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Dan Burn (Wigan Athletic).
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Foul by Yeni N'Gbakoto (Queens Park Rangers).
Post update
Dan Burn (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Kazenga Lua Lua (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic).
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Ryan Tunnicliffe (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers).
Substitution
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Mikael Mandron replaces Jamie Hanson.
Post update
Offside, Wigan Athletic. Gabriel Obertan tries a through ball, but Omar Bogle is caught offside.
Booking
Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers).
Post update
Stephen Warnock (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Idrissa Sylla replaces Matt Smith.
Post update
Kazenga Lua Lua (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
