Queens Park Rangers 0-3 Burnley: Clarets restore three-point gap at top

Burnley restored their three-point advantage at the top of the Championship with a dominant victory at managerless Queens Park Rangers.

Nathan Tella added a third after the break as Vincent Kompany’s men recorded an eighth win in their last 10 league games.

QPR could have had a penalty in the opening seconds, but they were well beaten in the end in their first match since manager Michael Beale took the job at Rangers.

This fifth defeat in six matches leaves them ninth in the table.

Burnley display real conviction

After a month off for the World Cup, the question was whether Burnley could regain the form and momentum they had displayed before and the answer was emphatic.

They played with a real conviction and were soon in their stride, dominating possession and playing with confidence all over the pitch and, on this evidence, it is easy to see why they are favourites to win the Championship.

However, they were fortunate not to concede a penalty after 20 seconds as QPR winger George Thomas appeared to be brought down by goalkeeper Aro Muric.

There was also a hint of luck about the free-kick they were awarded for the opening goal. That was where the luck ended though, as Gudmundsson whipped it over the wall leaving Seny Dieng rooted to the spot.

Chris Willock had a chance to equalise, but the Clarets’ superiority was emphasised by the second goal in first half stoppage-time.

Right-back Vitinho’s fine shot was well saved by Dieng, but nobody reacted faster than Maatsen as the left-back put the rebound away smartly inside the box.

QPR interim manager Paul Hall made a double change at half-time and saw captain Sam Field bring a smart save out of Muric as the Hoops improved.

But the league leaders made sure of the points as Tella capitalised on a mix-up between ex-Burnley defender Jimmy Dunne and Dieng as he rounded the goalkeeper and scored impressively from a tight angle for his seventh league goal of the season.

QPR need to act swiftly

No team in the top four divisions has now scored more than Burnley’s 43 league goals, while this was the seventh time they have scored at least three in a match.

Perhaps the most worrying thing for the rest of the division is that Kompany’s men look like they are getting stronger.

As for QPR, they were top of the league on 21 October when Beale was linked with a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He turned that down but, since then, their form has nosedived with one point now out of a possible 18.

Beale left to join Rangers, the club where he was assistant to Steven Gerrard, on 28 November, and the Loftus Road hierarchy need to act swiftly if this season is not to drift away.

QPR interim manager Paul Hall on his side’s early claim for a penalty:

“For me that’s a penalty. We can’t blame the ref, but it does affect us and does change the game slightly.

“I think if we get a penalty it gets our tails up and we believe in ourselves a little bit more.

“We can’t blame the ref, but I’m not happy with that decision of course. I’ve been in that situation many times and very rarely have I not been given a penalty or not seen a penalty being given in situations like that.”

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany:

“It’s never perfect, but that was close to it.

“I judge a team on effort first and I think everyone could witness the energy that this team has. We’ve seen so many good things in that game and scored three really good goals.

“It feels like a new start for me. It was a starting point, the league is level in our mind and we have to get better.

“I do want to treat it that way – like it’s a restart. We can get better and that has to be the message.”