Simoes secures vital win at QPR

Elliot Simoes got the winner in the seventh minute for the Reds who moved off bottom by a place and cut the gap to safety from seven points to four.  The visitors were easily the better side in the first half then had to do a lot of defending after the break but showed great character in their first match in 105 days following lockdown. 

Gerhard Struber sprang some surprises with his team, as he handed young midfielder Romal Palmer a professional debut and chose Jack Walton in goal for his first appearance since March last year. Conor Chaplin, who has 12 goals this season, was left on the bench while centre-back Mads Andersen was brought back into the side after being dropped in February. 

Barnsley played a 3-4-1-2 with Marcel Ritzmaier and Kilian Ludewig at wing-back and Ben Williams, usually a left-back, joined Andersen and Michael Sollbauer in a back three.  Jacob Brown played up front with Simoes and Woodrow just behind while Alex Mowatt and Palmer were the central midfielders. 

After a minute’s applause for the NHS’ efforts during the coronavirus crisis, both sets of players knelt in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

The visitors began well and took the lead in the seventh minute. Debutant Palmer won the ball just inside the Hoops half then Williams’ throughball was very cleverly dummied by Woodrow which put Simoes clean through to score his second Championship goal on his third league start for the club. 

Brown could have made it 2-0 three minutes later but he fired wide from 15 yards out after meeting a low right-wing cross from Ludewig. 

The hosts’ star player Eberechi Eze fired a 35-yard free-kick just over midway through the first half but Barnsley were by far the more threatening with both Woodrow and Andersen having shots blocked in the box. 

QPR defender Conor Masterson almost scored an own goal just before the break but his header from a Mowatt free-kick hit the crossbar then Woodrow sent an overhead kick wide from the rebound. 

Struber brought off goal-scorer Simoes at the break and brought on Chaplin. Ritzmaier soon had a shot easily saved by Liam Kelly.  QPR were the better team for much of the second half but struggled to break through a resilient Barnsley backline and were reduced mainly to long range shots.

Jordan Hugill fired wide on the volley from 12 yards out then an Ilias Chair cross was cleared yards from the line by Ludewig. Eze then shot just over the bar from 20 yards after a fine individual run then Yoann Barbet did the same with a 25-yard free-kick. 

The hosts finally had a shot on goal in the 83rd minute but Eze’s effort was straight at Walton from outside the box. The goalkeeper made a better save five minutes later when Hugill went clean through from an Eze pass but was denied by a one-on-one block. 

Barnsley (3–4–1-2): Walton;, Andersen, Sollbauer, B Williams; Ludewig (Thomas 85mins), Palmer (Dougall 58), Mowatt, Ritzmaier, Woodrow (Styles 74); Brown, Simoes (Chaplin HT).  Unused: Radlinger, J Williams, Schmidt, Oduor, Halme. Yellow cards: Chaplin.  Goals: Simoes 7. 

QPR (4-4-2): Kelly; Rangel (Kane 80mins), Masterson, Barbet, Manning; Ball (Wallace 61), Amos (Shodipo HT), Chair, Eze, Osayi-Samuel; Hugill. Unused: Lumley, Oteh, Bettache, Clarke.