Cardiff City extend unbeaten run to leapfrog QPR and continue march up Championship table
Cardiff City 3 QPR 0
Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock likened new signing Marlon Pack to the great Scottish midfield player Dave Mackay as he sang his praises after watching him inspire the biggest win of the season for the Bluebirds.
Despite only enjoying 28 per cent possession, the home side conjured up three goals. Pack got his first for the club, and his first in 11 months, at the end of the opening half, while skipper Sean Morrison headed home the opener to get his account for the season up and running.
Warnock brought Pack in from Bristol City just ahead of the closure date in the transfer window and was delighted to get him for around £4 million.
“Marlon makes a difference to us because we miss Aron Gunnarsson. He doesn’t ever panic, covers a lot of ground and he makes us play - I told him the other day he reminds me of Dave Mackay,” said an admiring Warnock.
“It was an organised and disciplined performance against a side that could have gone top of the league if they’d won last weekend. We are getting better, but we can still go quite a way yet.”
As for Warnock's opposite number, Mark Warburton, he was disappointed and frustrated to see his side lose back-to-back games following their loss to West Brom last weekend.
“It was very frustrating. It felt like a smash and grab if I’m honest,” said Warburton.
“We controlled the second half, we looked good, we hit the bar and had three big chances that we had to put in the back of the net. That’s the harsh reality - if you don’t do that you don’t get the rewards.”
The win for Cardiff took them up to 10th in the table, one place above QPR, and victory was sealed by Callum Paterson with a superb volley only a few minutes after coming on as a second half substitute.
Match details
Cardiff City (4-2-3-1): Smithies; Peltier, Morrison, Flint, Bennett; Pack, Bacuna; Whyte (Hoilett 87), Tomlin (Paterson 65), Murphy; Glatzel
Subs Unused: Etheridge, Nelson, Mendez-Laing, Ward, Coxe
Queens Park Rangers (4-2-3-1): Kelly; Rangel (Kane 68), Cameron, Leistner, Manning; Scowen, Ball (Wells 6); Chair (Pugh 80), Eze, Osayi-Samuel; Hugill
Subs unused: Lumley, Wallace, Mlaker, Masterson
Referee: Matt Donohue
