QPR 4-0 Derby County: FLW report as Ilias Chair masterclass ruins John Eustace welcome party | OneFootball

FLW report live from Loftus Road as QPR hammer Derby County

An Ilias Chair masterclass ensured that John Eustace's Derby County tenure started in defeat as the visitors were beaten 4-0 by play-off hopefuls QPR at Loftus Road on Friday evening.

Chair sparked fresh life into his Rangers love affair on Valentine's Day. He ended his scoring drought with a brilliant opener and then set up Koki Saito for a well-taken second as the Hoops raced to a two-goal lead at the break.

The Morocco international then bagged the third from close range early in the second half before Southampton loanee Ronnie Edwards capped off an impressive display with his first goal for the West Londoners.

Eustace left fifth-placed Blackburn Rovers to return to the relegation-threatened Rams as Paul Warne's replacement and while that reunion may well prove a match made in heaven, the former Derby midfielder saw just how much work needs to be done to make that relationship a success.

The East Midlands outfit, winless since Boxing Day, will end the weekend in the bottom three if any of the teams below them win, while the Hoops have moved to within three points of the play-off places ahead of Saturday's games.

QPR 4-0 Derby County

Eustace will certainly have been the happier of the managers in a tepid opening 20 minutes in W12, with a physical Derby side making things uncomfortable for the hosts but, as he has for so many visitors at Loftus Road, Chair would prove the Rams boss' undoing.

The Moroccan magician has been on a barren run in front of goal in 2024/25 but broke his duck in style in the 21st minute. He forced a mistake from Ebou Adams at a Derby throw-in to turn the ball over and then lashed an on-the-turn half-volley into the bottom corner from the edge of the box 20 seconds later.

Adams would get the chance to repent just before the half-hour but fired a volley of his own over the bar from the top of the Rangers' box while Sondre Langas put a short-range header over at a corner minutes later.

That brief storm weathered, Cifuentes' side went in search of a second. Michael Frey sent a speculative spinning half-volley just wide from 35 yards out and then it was Chair that would again provide the spark.

This time, the 27-year-old turned creator as he dropped a shoulder and burst past two Derby players on the outside. Rams goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom could only push his probing cross into the path of Saito, who showed wonderful poise to fake past the defenders before firing into the net and doubling the deficit with 10 first-half minutes to play.

The new manager will have wanted to see a response from his team and he nearly got one three minutes before the break. Callum Elder burst down the left and picked out right-winger Nathaniel Mendez Laing but Kenneth Paal was there to divert his powerful first-time strike wide.

If Eustace was hoping that would be a sign of what was to come in the second half, he would be sourly disappointed. Rangers continued to look the more dangerous side and on the rare occasions Derby did get forward, their disjointed attacking play ensured they were unable to trouble Paul Nardi.

Things would go from bad to worse 12 minutes after the restart as Saito won a header he had no right to win to send Yang Min-Hyeok through down the right. The winger's low cross was met by the arriving Chair, who made no mistake from close range.

That felt like game over but Rangers weren't done. With 26 minutes left to play, Kenneth Paal whipped in a fiendish free-kick from the left and Edwards headed darted to the front post to open his account in W12 – though the dubious goals panel may have a look at this one as he seemed to have assistance from Zetterstrom.

There were still more punches to land for Eustace and the visiting side as Jerry Yates, who has scored just once in his last eight games, missed an open goal from a few yards out and then slid one in only for it to be ruled out for offside.

A brutal start for the new Derby boss. The scoreline may be a little steep but there is plenty of work to do.

Paul Nardi - 6

Jimmy Dunne - 7

Steve Cook - 8 (Liam Morrison (83) - 6)

Ronnie Edwards - 8

Kenneth Paal - 8

Sam Field - 7 (Kieran Morgan (63) - 6)

Jonathan Varane - 7

Yang Min-Hyeok - 8 (Paul Smyth (63) - 6)

Ilias Chair - 10 (Nicolas Madsen (73) - 6)

Koki Saito - 8

Michael Frey - 7 (Alfie Lloyd (73) - 6)

Unused subs: Joe Walsh, Jack Colback, Morgan Fox, Harrison Ashby,

Derby County player ratings

Jacob Widell Zetterstrom - 5

Ryan Nyambe - 5

Sondre Langas - 6

Matt Clarke - 6

Callum Elder - 6

Marcus Harness - 5

Ebou Adams - 4 (Harrison Armstrong (85) - 6)

Ben Osborn - 6 (Kenzo Goudmijn (67) - 6)

Nathaniel Medez-Laing - 6 (Kayden Jackson (67) - 6)

Lars-Jorgen Salvesen - 6 (Tom Barkhuizen (46) - 6)

Jerry Yates - 5

Unused subs: Josh Vickers, Craig Forsyth, Liam Thompson, Jake Rooney, Cruz Allen

Attendance

The attendance for QPR v Derby County was 16,591.

That included 1,488 travelling Rams.

Marti Cifuentes post-match reaction

"I like a lot of things (about the performance)," Cifuentes told the press after the game. "First of all, the mentality to bounce back from the disappointing result in the last game.

"We knew that it would be a difficult start to the game because it's a new manager. We didn't know what exactly to expect against them, whether they would change the formation from what they have done over the last few games. Actually, it was a big question mark. During the last couple of days, we spoke with the players about what we could expect, what we couldn't expect, and it's certainly difficult. So I was pleased, especially with the efficiency that we showed to take the lead and then taking a bigger advantage before half-time was important as well.

"At half-time, we spoke that we had to keep pushing to score the third one because otherwise it will be difficult.

"I think the commitment of everybody, even the guys that didn't jump in today were so committed, and this togetherness, this feeling that we were angry after the last game and that we really wanted to get three points was very important."

John Eustace post-match reaction

Eustace was keen to look to the positives after his tenure started in defeat.

He said: "Obviously, really disappointed with the result. You know, I've learned a lot about the group tonight and there's lots I'm excited about working with them next week. There's lots we can improve on and I think that improvement comes from work on the training ground."

He added: "I thought we started really well, and the goal they scored just knocked the wind out of sails and then you can see that the group is lacking a little bit of confidence.

Really disappointed about the result.

"Unfortunately, we didn't defend the box well enough then for the second, third and fourth goals. So again, lots to improve on, and that's what I'm excited about."

Asked how he plans to pick the team up, he said: "We can't be sulky. We can't be feeling sorry for ourselves. We've got to create that fighting mentality with we don't want to be victims. We're fighters and coming in now, we make sure that these boys are ready, they roll their sleeves up. We've got players coming back from injury in the next couple of weeks as well, which is going to be important to the group and we've just got to keep going. If we give up there are going to be problems."