Middlesbrough 2-3 QPR: Chris Willock nets winner as 10-man Rangers triumph in five-goal thriller

QPR continued their impressive start to the new Championship campaign with a thrilling win at Middlesbrough.

Mark Warburton’s side - who brushed aside Hull 3-0 at the weekend after an opening day draw with Millwall and Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Leyton Orient - went third in the early season table on Wednesday night after battling to a 3-2 triumph over former Rs manager Neil Warnock at the Riverside Stadium, despite playing most of the second half with 10 men following Moses Odubajo’s dismissal.

Boro had looked hungry to carry on from where they left off by beating Bristol City at the weekend and that lifted the home crowd from the first whistle.

When Jonny Howson's low drive from 22 yards bounced off a post, Isaiah Jones was on hand to turn the rebound beyond goalkeeper Seny Dieng but QPR's Jordy De Wijs was on the line to clear.

The resulting corner at the end of that attack was headed back across the six-yard area by Uche Ikpeazu and Lyndon Dykes was spotted pulling Dael Fry's shirt by referee Stephen Martin.

Ikpeazu, who had scored the opener five days earlier, hit the centre of the net with his penalty as Dieng dived to his right and Middlesbrough went ahead.

Chris Willock's run and cross was ideal for Dykes to turn the ball goalwards but ex-QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley prevented an equaliser with his leg and then gathered.

Almost immediately after the restart QPR were level when Lee Wallace's cross from the left, after he was played down the line by Ilias Chair, was turned into his own net by the outstretched leg of Howson at the near post.

But shortly afterwards Odubajo, who had played a key role in that break, was issued with his second caution of the night for bringing down the lively Jones before he entered the box.

QPR responded well and with the hour approaching, Willock's little chip for Dykes was hammered goalwards first time from a tight angle and Lumley allowed the ball to go through his legs at his near post.

There was still more to come. When Jones' tenacity earned him the right to pass to Crooks with 18 minutes remaining, the former Rotherham man controlled before side-footing beyond Dieng.

But four minutes later QPR had the lead once more. This time Willock was picked out in space in the area, he side-stepped Fry before rolling the ball into Lumley's bottom-right corner.

Despite 10 minutes of added time, there was no way back for Middlesbrough.

A third successive victory across all competitions means QPR are now among the group of six teams that sit on seven points in the Championship after three matches, behind only promotion favourites West Brom and Fulham, but ahead of Bournemouth, Stoke and Blackburn on goal difference. Nobody boasts a 100 per cent record.

Home matches against Barnsley and Coventry await before the first international break of the season in September, as well as a Carabao Cup second-round clash with League One Oxford.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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