Aguero treble sends QPR down
Print Edition
QUEENS Park Rangers bowed out of the Premier League with a whimper after Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick to lead his side to a crushing 6-0 victory over the London club yesterday.
QPR needed to win its remaining three fixtures to stand any chance of survival but defeat at the Etihad Stadium left it nine points adrift of 17th-placed Newcastle United with two games remaining. Second-placed City confirmed its place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
QPR, which will join Burnley in the Championship, has collected just seven away points this season and was behind in the fourth minute when Aguero dinked over Robert Green before Aleksander Kolarov’s free kick doubled the lead before halftime.
Aguero completed his hat-trick with goals in the 50th and 65th minutes before James Milner added a fifth and David Silva completed the rout three minutes from time.
QPR, whose chairman is Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes, announced massive losses in March and could face heavy fines, points deductions and transfer embargoes under the Football League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
City has 73 points from 36 games and trails champion Chelsea by 10 points ahead of the Blues’ game against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge later yesterday.
Arsenal, on 70 points from 34 games, hosts Swansea City today.
“I don’t think it’s time for any post-mortems because our fate is now what it is,” QPR manager Chris Ramsey told Sky Sports. “Everybody is very disappointed we’ve lost our status in the Premier League. We need to make sure we rebuild and give the fans and the people from west London another Premier League club in the next couple of years.”
The match was almost three years to the day since Aguero’s dramatic goal deep into stoppage-time lifted City to a 3-2 win over QPR which secured its first Premier League title.
Rangers survived that day but arrived in Manchester knowing only victory would prevent them from joining Burnley in a swift return to the Championship.
They made the worst possible start at the Etihad, however, when Aguero danced through the visitors’ feeble defense before chipping the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Green.
In a rare foray forward QPR’s Charlie Austin had a header ruled out for offside before Kolarov’s low free kick flew through the porous defensive wall and settled in the bottom corner.
Aguero added his second when he capitalized on Yun Suk-young’s error to race away and slot past Green and he completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Matt Phillips had felled Silva.
Milner added a fifth with a simple finish and Silva danced around Green to slot home after a sublime move to complete a miserable day for QPR.
The third and final relegation place is currently occupied by Hull City but several other clubs are also in danger of being demoted.
Burnley was relegated on Saturday despite beating Hull 1-0 as results elsewhere sent it back to the Championship after one season in the top flight.
The humble Lancashire club needed to win its last three games to have any hope of avoiding the drop but there proved no escape after Sunderland, Leicester City and Aston Villa all won and Newcastle drew.
Manchester United won 2-1 at Crystal Palace to consolidate fourth spot, a first win in four games for Louis van Gaal’s side ensuring it needs only one point from two games to get back into the Champions League frame.
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