13 March 2021

Juninho Bacuna goal gives Huddersfield victory at QPR

13 March 2021

Juninho Bacuna’s goal gave Huddersfield a 1-0 victory at QPR in the Sky Bet Championship.

Bacuna struck 10 minutes into the second half at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium to clinch only a second win in 15 matches for the Terriers – and their first away win since October.

Pipa sent the ball in low from left and Bacuna fired a powerful first-time shot past keeper Seny Dieng, who barely moved, from near the edge of the penalty area.

Huddersfield were the better side for much of the game, with Isaac Mbenza shooting narrowly wide early on and Lewis O’Brien seeing a similar effort pushed away by Dieng.

Richard Keogh also went close for the visitors when he headed wide from a corner, while Bacuna shot over as QPR struggled to find any rhythm.

But the best chance of the first half fell to Rangers and was created by Ilias Chair, who found space on the right-hand side of the penalty area and teed up Todd Kane – only for him to shoot straight at goalkeeper Ryan Schofield from seven yards out.

Schofield stood his ground well and then reacted quickly to claw the ball away and prevent Kane following up – but it was a gilt-edged opportunity missed.

It proved to be a costly miss for Mark Warburton’s side, who failed to create another clear-cut chance in an extremely disappointing display.

Bacuna, on the other hand, made no mistake after being set up by Pipa, who created another chance for him soon afterwards but on that occasion the Curaçao international dragged a shot well wide.

Bacuna went much closer with a free-kick he steered just wide, and Duane Holmes’ long-range effort brought an awkward save from Dieng as Huddersfield threatened a second goal.

Eight wins from their previous 12 matches had lifted QPR into the top half of the table and seemingly left them with an outside chance of making the play-offs.

However, they were well below par against a side who caused them problems from the start and never let them settle.

Warburton sent on winger Albert Adomah and striker Lyndon Dykes, switching to two up front for the final 15 minutes in an attempt to breathe some life into his team.

But it had no effect whatsoever and Rangers still failed to muster a single decent chance despite having plenty of possession, with Town seeing the game out fairly comfortably.

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