Jack Clarke scored a brace to help Sunderland produce one of the most comfortable football results of the weekend in the Championship. After Anthony Patterson saved Ilias Chair’s penalty midway through the second half and Luke O’Nien capitalized on Seny Dieng’s error to score the game’s first goal, the hosts at Loftus Road suffered yet another setback thanks to a late double from ex-QPR loanee Clarke. Since Neil Critchley took over as head coach following the resignation of Michael Beale, QPR has lost 10 consecutive games in all competitions, won just one of their last 17 games, and played 11 games without a victory. When they defeated Wigan on October 22, they were in first place, but that was their only triumph at home. Their most recent loss, which was their seventh at home this year, accelerated their worrying descent into the relegation zone.
On the other hand, Sunderland has gone unbeaten in eight away games and is now in the play-off spots. With his first league goal of the year, O’Nein gave the visitors the lead after 34 minutes. Dieng, the goalkeeper, twice failed to catch the ball after Daniel Ballard’s header from Alex Pritchard’s right-wing corner before O’Nien tipped it in from close range. Dieng had made two astute saves, stopping Patrick Roberts and stopping an O’Nien shot. Before the Black Cats scored, on-loan Leeds striker Joe Gelhardt also had a chance, but he missed the target after QPR defender Jimmy Dunne misread Trai Hume’s ball over the top.
And when it was determined that Aji Alese handled Chair’s cross while challenging Martin, they were given a fantastic opportunity to tie the score. Chair attempted to put the ensuing penalty kick in the centre of the goal, but Patterson was able to deflect the ball with his foot while diving to his left. When Gelhardt turned Roberts’ low cross onto the crossbar, Sunderland nearly scored a second goal. After 82 minutes, though, Clarke made no mistakes, cutting in from the left and deceiving Rob Dickie before shooting past Dieng. Dan Neil then passed to Pierre Ekwah on the right in stoppage time, setting up Clarke for a composed finish.
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