Wolves have managed to snap a nine-game winless streak to record a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over ten-man QPR this afternoon.
For the second match in a row, QPR gave up the lead, to this time come away with nothing after drawing at Aston Villa midweek as Wolves celebrated a much-needed win to move out of the drop zone.
QPR got off to a great start in the 16th minute when new signing Bobby Zamora scored on his debut for the club after a great build-up. Adel Taarabt found second-gamer Djibril Cisse who chipped into the area for Shaun Wright-Phillips with the winger producing a nice aerial touch to tee up the former Fulham man who held off his marker and finished with power on his trusty left foot.
After scoring on debut on Wednesday night and being involved in the opener, we saw the bad side of Cisse when he was shown a straight red card in the 34th minute for a petulant act when he grabbed Roger Johnson by the throat after he was felled by a tackle from the Wolves skipper. It was pointless act by the Frenchman who reacted angrily to a challenge that forwards exprience quite regularly and he really should have responded better with all his experience.
It would prove costly in the end as early in the second half, Wolves were back on level terms when Matt Jarvis scored his first goal in 24 games. A cross from the right was deflected to the winger on the left side of the area and he advanced toward R's defender Luke Young before producing a measured finish into Paddy Kenny's bottom left corner.
Wolves were coming hard at the R's, who were forced to defend, and eventually took the lead when substitute Kevin Doyle received the ball from Sylvain Ebanks-Blake with his back to goal before turning and hammering home past Kenny with just under 20 minutes remaining for his first goal in 14 games and first goal away from the Molineux in 13 months.
There were plenty of chances in the second half as the match opened up with Wolves striker Steven Fletcher unlucky when his back post header clattered into the crossbar in the 50th minute moments before R's defender Anton Ferdinand made a timely clearance when Fletcher's miss-kick landed at the feet of Sylvain Ebanks-Blake.
The 56th minute saw Taarabt hit his free-kick from 25 yards just wide of the mark about 20 minutes prior to Armand Traore forcing a low save from Wayne Hennessey with a well-struck shot from range moments before Kenny kept out Jarvis' angled attempt.
QPR were desperately searching for a leveler with Taarabt forcing a corner with a dangerous effort moments before Hennessey managed to get a diving hand on Taarabt's 28-yard thunderbolt. Joey Barton then rifled just wide of Hennessey's goal and Ferdinand failed to get his shot on target from Taarabt's low cross when he was clear in the area.
It was a plethora of missed chances from Mark Hughes' men late as they remained 16th but are now equal on points with Wolves who grabbed their first win since December 4.
TRIBAL ASKS: The new R's attack is doing well but does Hughes need to sort out his defence if he wants to stay up or was today just a blip with the red card? From Wolves' point of view, could this victory give McCarthy the impetus to push on for another survival effort?
Queens Park Rangers: 1 (Bobby Zamora 16') Wolves: 2 (Matt Jarvis 46', Kevin Doyle 71')
Loftus Road, London - 17,351
Yellow cards:QPR - nil WOL - Roger Johnson 34', Steven Fletcher 39', Sebastien Bassong 45'
Red card:QPR - Djibril Cisse 34'
