Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill was thrilled with victory over QPR.
Nicklas Bendtner, James McClean and Stephane Sessegnon struck for the Black Cats.
"Forty points on the board - if you had given me that in December I would have taken your arms off, for the end of the season, never mind anything else."
The win took the Black Cats into eighth place in the table, just two points adrift of Liverpool in seventh, and sent QPR back into the relegation zone.
O'Neill said: "I genuinely hadn't realised that. It was a surprise at Liverpool being beaten (by Wigan), but from our own viewpoint, it sets us up for Tuesday night, at least in terms of confidence."O'Neill said: "I am just delighted to have won the game. It keeps the momentum going.