Taarabt inspires QPR comeback - History
Thursday, 5th Mar 2020 21:30 by Clive Whittingham

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Preston we're looking back to 2010 for a memorable match where QPR roared back from two goals down in the early days of Neil Warnock's reign.

Memorable Match

Preston 2 Queens Park Rangers 2, Saturday March 27, 2010, Championship

Neil Warnock says that when he enquired about the fat Moroccan with all the tricks during his first training session as QPR manager he was told “That’s Adel. He’ll get you the sack.”

Warnock’s immediate predecessors had agreed. Paul Hart, who Ale Faurlin describes as the worst manager he’s worked under in the UK, picked Patrick Agyemang in attack instead of Adel Taarabt. In fact, in one memorable second half against a relegation-threatened Bristol City team when QPR played for half an hour with two right backs, two left backs, three centre backs and two defensive central midfielders he picked only Patrick Agyemang in attack. Mick Harford who followed him recognised the stupidity of that, but responded by loaning in Marcus Bent and Tamas Priskin rather than turning to the mercurial talent within. Jim Magilton had tried, and in one glorious fortnight when Barnsley, Preston, Reading and Derby were all vanquished and seventeen goals were scored the potential shone brightly, but it all blew up in his face — or rather, on the end of his forehead.

Neil Warnock is not a noted lover of temperamental, flair players. Warnock is the former Sheffield United manager who used to make Phil Jagielka stand up in the dressing room so everybody could look at their role model during his team talk. He’s the man who, needing a win from the final two matches of the Premier League season to stay up, went to Aston Villa who had nothing to play for and played with a single striker and lost. Ronnie Jepson, who Warnock had at Bury and Huddersfield, is Neil Warnock’s sort of striker — one headed goal, three elbows into the gob of the nearest centre back, five cigs in the changing room after the game and back on the bus home. Warnock made Jepson his reserve team manager at QPR.

But Neil Warnock is a man who knows how to win promotions — QPR’s fabulous, tear-jerking 2010/11 season would be his seventh. In Adel Taarabt, one afternoon at Deepdale, Warnock saw a man who could win him that title, and how he could get him to do it.

QPR were just about safe by the time they journeyed north to face Preston North End, and given the money they’d spent and the quality of player available to them it was ridiculous that this was the sum total of their ambition. Only the arrival of Warnock, the upturn in results he brought, and the meltdown occurring back at the club he’d left behind in South London made it so. The QPR fans, who’d seen megalomaniac Italian owner Flavio Briatore rattle through seven managers in two and a half seasons prior to Warnock’s arrival, were grateful for small mercies.

Preston were 2-0 up just before the hour. David Jones before the break, a typically emphatic Callum Davidson penalty after it. Pretty standard stuff. But QPR, with Taarabt playing a withdrawn role behind a central striker, came roaring back in the second half.

The game finished 2-2 and QPR should have won it. Taarabt assisted both goals and the names of the scorers highlighted the quality of the balls played — Peter Ramage and Tamas Priskin. Taarabt had been so good, even they couldn’t miss. Mind you, saying that, he repeated the trick a third time at the death and Rowan Vine skewed the resulting sitter wide.

Preston couldn’t cope with him, it was a total one man show and they had no answers to it. Such a single-handed demolition job was a spectacle even the most loyal fan of either team would struggle to recall happening before. It was something the Championship would quickly become used to.

With a minute to go, Warnock took Taarabt off even though the game, locked at 2-2, was still there to be won. The Moroccan didn’t stick around for the stoppage time — instead he walked straight down the sideline, into the dressing room, quickly showered, and left.

The QPR fans who scooted out on full time and took taxis back to the railway station were surprised to see their man of the match for the day had beaten them there and was racing down the platform to catch the next train to the airport, leaving his team mates behind to head off to sunnier climes for a few days. He'd asked his manager's permission, and had it granted on the condition of a decent display. Warnock would even substitute him early so he could make his train, if he played to his full potential.

Warnock had hit upon a formula — build a team around Taarabt on the field, and indulge him more than he ever had any other player before off it. Within 18 months, QPR were champions and Taarabt was the Championship's Player of the Year,

Preston: Lonergan 8, Jones 7, St. Ledger 6, Ward 5, Davidson 5, Wallace 6, James 7, Chaplow 6, Carter 6 (Sedgwick 59, 7), Mellor 6, Parkin 7 (Brown 71, 6)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hart, Mawene, Chilvers, Barton

Booked: Carter (foul), Chaplow (kicking ball away), St. Ledger (foul), Mellor (foul)

Goals: Jones 37 (assisted Wallace), Davidson 56 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 5, Gorkss 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 7, Priskin 6, Ephraim 7, Taarabt 9 (Buzsaky 90), German 6 (Vine 46, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Balanta, Tosic, Oastler

Booked: Hill (repetitive fouling), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Ramage 57 (assisted Taarabt), Priskin 66 (assisted Taarabt)

Recent Meetings:

QPR 2 Preston 0, Saturday December 7, 2019, Championship

QPR secured their first clean sheet of the season, and a rare win against Preston, when these sides met at Loftus Road at the start of December. Ebere Eze got the ball rolling with an emphatic finish at the second attempt down at the School End after Geoff Cameron had chipped him in. He made it two from the spot in the second half after Marc Pugh was adjudged to have been taken out by visiting keeper Declan Rudd — a decision PNE protested vehermently.

QPR: Lumley 7; Kane 7, Leistner 8, Hall 7, Manning 7; Cameron 7; Osayi-Samuel 8, Eze 8 (Amos 87, -), Pugh 7; Hugill 7, Wells 7 (Scowen 68, 6)

Subs not used: Wallace, Barnes, Smith, Ball, Chair

Goals: Eze 17 (assisted Cameron), 67 (penalty, won Pugh)

Bookings: Scowen 79 (foul), Osayi-Samuel 90 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 6; Rafferty 5, Huntington 6, Storey 6, Hughes 5; Pearson 5, Browne 6; Barkhuizen 6 (Nugent 62, 4), Potts 5 (Harrop 66, 5), Maguire 6; Stockley 6 (Bodin 57, 5)

Bookings: Rudd 65 (foul, penalty concession), Bodin 90+2 (foul)

QPR 1 Preston 4, Saturday January 19, 2019, Championship

QPR’s 2018/19 campaign really started to unravel in earnest when Preston came to Loftus Road in January. Joe Lumley and Josh Scowen’s doomed play-out-from-the back routine created a first half goal for Jayden Stockley and the defence folded altogether in the second period, caught out by two set pieces flicked on at the near post for first Storey and then Browne to make it 2-0 and 3-0. Matt Smith got a consolation goal at the Loft End with time running down but there was a further kick in the teeth to come as Potts returned a Joe Lumley parry into the far corner for a 4-1 away win.

QPR: Lumley 4; Furlong 5, Leistner 5, Lynch 5, Bidwell 5; Scowen 4, Cousins 4 (Smith 46, 5); Wszolek 5 (Osayi-Samuel 76, 5), Eze 5 (Smyth 85, -), Freeman 5; Wells 5

Subs not used: Ingram, Hall, Manning, Oteh

Goals: Smith 84 (assisted Bidwell)

Bookings: Scowen 9 (foul), Furlong 90+2 (foul), Lynch 90+3 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 6; Fisher 7, Storey 8, Davies 7, Hughes 7; Pearson 8; Gallagher 7, Browne 8, Maguire 8 (Barkhuizen 68, 7), Potts 8; Stockley 7 (Nmecha 77, 6)

Subs not used: Johnson, Woods, Ledson, Huntington, Ripley

Goals: Stockley 14 (assisted Browne), Storey 68 (assisted Davies), Browne 82 (assisted Storey), Potts 87 (assisted Nmecha)

Bookings: Maguire 23 (foul), Fisher 90+5 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 0, Saturday August 4, 2018, Championship

QPR got their annual niggly, frustrating, irritating single goal defeat at Deepdale in early that season, losing 1-0 in Lancashire in the opening day of the season. Alan Browne’s looping header catching Matt Ingram out five minutes after half time was enough to settle a dire game, though substitute Idrissa Sylla drew brilliant save from Declan Rudd in front of the away fans in injury time.

PNE: Rudd 7; Fisher 6, Clarke 6, Davies 6, Hughes 6; Pearson 8, Browne 7; Barkhuizen 7 (Horgan 71, 6), Harrop 6 (Ledson 83, -), Robinson 7; Moult 6 (Gallagher 77, 6)

Subs not used: Woods, Burke, Maxwell, Huntington

Goals: Browne 50 (assisted Harrop)

QPR: Ingram 5; Kakay 6, Leistner 7, Lynch 6, Bidwell 5; Scowen 6, Luongo 6 (Smyth 66, 6); Osayi-Samuel 5 (Manning 46, 6), Eze 6, Freeman 5; Smith 4 (Sylla 77, 5)

Subs not used: Cousins, Washington, Lumley, Baptiste

Yellow Cards: Manning 66 (foul), Scowen 73 (foul)

QPR 1 Preston 2, Saturday April 14, 2018, Championship

Preston did their usual number on QPR at Loftus Road back in April 2018, outfoxing Rangers tactically and beating them up physically as Ian Holloway once again paid the price for changing a winning team. Rangers had been rampant during the week, winning 4-2 against Sheff Wed, but Idrissa Sylla who scored twice and Paul Smyth who got one and the Man of the Match award were both benched for the Saturday game. It didn’t look like it would matter when Matt Smith tapped in a great Ryan Manning cross early on, but Preston have a formidable recent record on this ground and scrambled a deserved equaliser through Callum Robinson before half time. Their winner, headed over stand in keeper Matt Ingram and into the far corner by Robinson once more, had been coming.

QPR: Ingram 6; Furlong 6, Baptiste 6, Robinson 6, Bidwell 6; Cousins 5 (Freeman 73, 5), Luongo 5, Manning 6; Eze 5, Osayi Samuel 5 (Smyth 63, 6), Smith 5 (Sylla 63, 5)

Subs not used: Smithies, Scowen, Wszolek, Kakay

Goals: Smith 13 (assisted Manning)

Bookings: Ingram 38 (foul), Robinson 70 (foul), Luongo 83 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 7; Fisher 7, Clarke 6, Huntington 6, Cunningham 6; Pearson 7, Browne 8; Barkhuizen 6, Johnson 7 (Harrop 63, 6), Bodin 6 (Gallagher 63, 6); Robinson 7 (Horgan 90+4, -)

Subs not used: Davies, Moult, Maxwell, Earl

Goals: Robinson 45 (assisted Fisher), 72 (assisted Browne)

Bookings: Cunningham 41 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 0, Saturday December 2, 2017, Championship

QPR had Jamie Mackie harshly sent off in the first half when these sides met at Deepdale back in December 2017. Having fallen victim to that questionable bit of refereeing, Rangers defended stoically for the rest of the game before conceding the only goal to Jordan Hugill with two minutes of normal time remaining. Alex Baptiste was sent off for dissent after the final whistle, although Rangers claimed he was actually swearing at a former Preston team mate not referee Jeremy Simpson.

PNE: Maxwell; Fisher, Clarke (O’Connor 45), Huntingdon, Davies; Gallagher, Pearson, Barkhuizen, Browne (Harrop 45); Robinson, Hugill

Subs not used: Rudd, Boyle, Horgan, Pringle, Welsh

Goals: Hugill 88 (assisted Gallagher)

Yellow cards: Huntingdon 79 (foul), Pearson 79 (dissent)

QPR: Smthies 7; Wszolek 6, Baptiste 8, Robinson 8, Bidwell 7; Luongo 6, Scowen 6, Wheeler 5 (Smith 73, 6); Chair 6 (Sylla 90, -), Mackie 4, Washington 6

Subs not used: Lumley, Cousins, Smyth, Manning, Goss

Red Cards: Mackie 22 (serious foul play), Baptiste 90+6 (two yellows)

Yellow cards: Luongo 86 (foul), Bidwell 90 (foul), Baptiste 90+5 (dissent), Baptiste 90+6 (dissent)

Preston 2 QPR 1, Saturday February 20, 2017, Championship

QPR had Luke Freeman harshly sent off for two bookings, and slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Deepdale in February 2017. Things had started so well when Kazenga LuaLua turned in Matt Smith’s flick on from a long throw to give the R’s a lead. But the standard Aiden McGeady 20-yarder on the stroke of half time swung the game back in Preston’s favour and Jordan Hugill got a winner at the second attempt from a late corner after Alex Smithies had saved the first.

PNE: Maxwell 6; Huntington 6, Clarke 6, Spurr 6, Cunningham 6; Browne 8, Johnson 7; McGeady 7, Robinson 7, Horgan 7 (Barkhuizenat 86, -); Hugill 6

Subs not used: Lindegaard, Makienok, Beckford, Gallagher, May, Boyle

Goals: McGeady 44 (unassisted), Hugill 77 (assisted Horgan)

Bookings: Clarke 66 (foul)

QPR: Smithies 7; Furlong 6 (Ngbakoto 67, 5), Onuoha 6, Lynch 4, Bidwell 5; Freeman 6, Perch 7, Manning 6; Wszolek 6, Smith 6 (Sylla 67, 5), Lua Lua 6 (Mackie 73, 6)

Subs not used: Ingram, Goss, Ingram, Petrasso

Goals: Lua Lua 36 (assisted Furlong/Smith)

Red Cards: Freeman 78 (two bookings)

Bookings: Onuoha 21 (foul), Freeman 41 (foul), Lua Lua 62 (foul), Freeman 78 (stamping)

QPR 0 Preston 2, Saturday August 20, 2016, Championship

Preston did a proper tactical number on QPR at Loftus Road in August 2016, comfortably winning 2-0 in one of the first major indications that the Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink era wasn’t going to have a happy ending after all. Rangers had already beaten Leeds and Cardiff in the opening month of the season but with Jon Welsh detailed to crowd the space Tjaronn Chery was operating in, and centre half Bailey Wright the best player on the pitch, the visitors were rarely troubled by the home team. They scored either side of half time — Beckford making the most of a rare Smithies flap to divert a follow up into the net, then Callum Robinson finishing from close range at the end of a sweeping counter attack. Johnson curled one wide and Smithies tipped over an outrageous lob attempt to prevent the scoreline being more severe. PNE hadn’t won a game, or scored a goal, in the league prior to this.

QPR: Smithies 4; Perch 5, Onuoha 5, Caulker 4, Bidwell 5; Henry 4 (Washington 54, 6), Luongo 5; Ngabokto 5 (El Khayati 64, 6), Chery 5, Cousins 5; Polter 5

Subs not used: Ingram, Shodipo, Kakay, Paul, Grego-Cox

Bookings: Perch 45+1 (foul)

Preston: Lindegaard 6; Humphrey 7 (Huntington 87, -), Clarke 7, Wright 8, Cunningham 6; Welsh 6, Gallagher 7 (Browne 74, 6); Johnson 8; Robinson 7, Beckford 6 (Hugill 73, 6)

Subs not used: Makienok, Doyle, Pringle, Maxwell

Goals: Beckford 21 (assisted Gallagher, mistake Smithies), Onuoha own goal (assisted Beckford, mistake Onuoha/Henry)

Bookings: Welsh 58 (foul), Browne 85 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday March 19, 2016, Championship

While there was little at stake for either side when they met in March 2016, a combination of the pressure being off and the referee being under the influence of some bad acid made for a lively encounter at Deepdale. QPR took the lead early on when Seb Polter headed a corner home, and should have sealed the game in the second half when Tjaronn Chery ran through one on one with Anders Lindegaard but failed to convert. Amidst some farcical officiating from Andy Woolmer, PNE bagged a last minute equaliser from Doyle but there were four yellow cards in injury time alone and in the end most were relieved the game was called to a halt before anybody was killed.

Preston: Lindegaard 7; Woods 6, Wright 6, Clarke 5, Cunningham 7; Johnson 7; Gallagher 6, Pearson 6 (Doyle 61, 7), Reach 6 (Beckford 85, -), Robinson 6 (Welsh 79, 6); Hugill 5

Subs not used: Vermijl, Kilkenny, Smith, Kirkland

Goals: Doyle 90+3 (assisted Cunningham)

Bookings: Clarke 81 (denying a goalscoring opportunity), Beckford 90+5 (fighting)

QPR: Smithies 6; Onuoha 6, Angella 6, Hill 7, Perch 6; Faurlin 6, Henry 7, Mackie 6 (Luongo 78, 5), Chery 6 (Hall 89, -), Hoilett 6 (El Khayati 90+3, -), Polter 7

Subs not used: Washington, Tozser, Ingram, Petrasso

Goals: Polter 5 (assisted Faurlin)

Bookings: Hoilett 71 (not sure), Angella 90+5 (fighting), Faurlin 90+5 (not sure), Hall 90+8 (foul-ish)

QPR 0 Preston 0, Saturday November 7, 2015, Championship

The first meeting between these sides that season was something of a perfect storm. It fell into the brief period of Neil Warnock's caretaker charge, when Rangers had surrendered almost all of their attacking intent in order to tighten up a defence that had been shipping two goals a game on average for the first three months of the season. Preston meanwhile, with Jermaine Beckford injured and Joe Garner out of form, were also relying on a tight backline to establish them following promotion from League One. Absolutely nothing of any real note happened in the entire match.

QPR: Green 7; Henry 6, Onuoha 6, Hall 7, Konchesky 6; Phillips 5, Faurlin 6, Sandro 5 (Emmanuel-Thomas 64, 5), Hoilett 6 (Chery 74, 5); Fer 6, Austin 6

Subs not used: Luongo, Smithies, Angella, Tozser, Polter

Yellow Cards: Onuoha 69 (dissent), Austin 78 (foul)

Preston: Pickford 6; Vermijl 6, Woods 6, Wright 7, Huntington 6; Reach 6, Browne 6, Gallagher 6, Johnson 7 (Kilkenny 90+4, -), Doyle 5 (Keane 75, 6); Garner 5 (Hugill 88, -)

Subs not used: Davies, Brownhill, May, Kirkland

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday February 19, 2011, Championship

Although Neil Warnock's QPR were runaway Championship leaders in February 2011, the club still had the ability to struggle against the division's lesser lights as it always had done before. Preston would go on to be relegated that year, and had already been swept aside by Rangers 3-1 at Loftus Road, but had much the better of this encounter once Ishmael Miller's powerful run down the left had set up Heidar Helguson for an emphatic opener. Phil Brown's side equalised through Barry Nicholson and had numerous chances to win. Later, Rangers lost 4-1 at one of the other relegated teams Scunthorpe.

Preston: I Turner, B Jones, S St Ledger, L Cort, D Gray, B Nicholson, I Ashbee, K Treacy, A Barton (P Parry, 75), E Johnson (P Hayes, 55), N Ellington (J Proctor, 82)

Subs not used: A Lonergan, D Carter, C Morgan, D Russell

Goals: Nicholson 62

Bookings: Ashbee, Treacy, Gray

QPR: P Kenny, C Hill, B Orr, M Connolly, K Gorkss, W Routledge (A Buzsaky, 86), S Derry, A Taarabt, A Faurlin, I Miller (P Vaagen Moen, 61), H Helguson (R Hulse, 74)

Subs not used: F Hall, P Chimbonda, D Shittu, R Cerny

Goals: Helguson 16

Bookings: Gorkss, Routledge, Derry

QPR 3 Preston 1, Saturday November 20, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt did always seem to quite enjoy playing against Preston. After registering QPR’s goal of the season in a 4-0 win against the Lily Whites at Loftus Road the previous season, the Moroccan scored two more breathtaking goals against them in W12 here. Taarabt made it 2-0 and then 3-0 from long range at the Loft End after Rob Hulse had scored from close range in the opening ten minutes. A soft own goal from Matt Connolly in injury time ruined Paddy Kenny’s clean sheet and gave the scoreline a flattering look when the gulf between the two sides on the day was taken into account.

QPR: Kenny 6, Walker 8, Hall 7 (Rowlands 81, -), Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Connolly 6, Faurlin 7, Mackie 7 (Andrade 88, -), Taarabt 8, Clarke 6, Hulse 7 (Agyemang 80, -)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Helguson, Ephraim

Goals: Hulse 4 (assisted Walker), Taarabt 56 (assisted Hulse), 84 (assisted Clarke)

Preston: Lonergan 3, Gray 5, Brown 5, St. Ledger 4, De Laet 5, Tonge 5, Barton 6, Russell 5, Pugh 4, Parkin 5, Hume 5

Subs Not Used: Arestidou, Morgan, James, Mayor, Parry, Jones, McLaughlin

Booked: St. Ledger (play acting/fighting)

Goals: Connolly 88 og (assisted Hume)

Preston 2 QPR 2, Saturday March 27, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt, promised an early substitution and trip home to France if he played well, was at his imperious best at Deepdale as Rangers battled back from two down to draw, and almost win. Static defending cost the R’s the opening goal before half time when Billy Jones had time for two touches and a finish in the area after Ross Wallace’s low free kick made it right through the box. Then after half time further defensive hesitancy allowed Jon Parkin in behind Kaspars Gorkss and when he was subsequently wrestled to the ground a penalty was the obvious result — Callum Davidson almost ripped the net off the back of the posts with the kick. So far so predictable, but then Taarabt started to play. He mesmerised the Preston defence time after time after time teeing up identical goals for first Peter Ramage and then Tamas Priskin before laying in Rowan Vine for what should have been a certain winner — Vine cleared the bar with his shot.