On this day in 2023, Sunderland defeated QPR 3-0 away from home couresy of a goal from Luke O'Nien and a brace from Jack Clarke. Here's Lines From London from that day.
Saturday's win was all the sweeter because the winning goal came so late. I think we're going to win again this evening...
The R's are in the lower end of mid-table and they haven't won for over two months so there's a lot of grumbling going on among their fans. With our games coming thick and fast at the moment I imagine there'll be a bit of squad rotation tonight and Cirkin could well be starting. I like having five subs and at last I can look at our bench, see the likes of Pritchard and O'Nien and feel confident that they can change the course of a match.
I couldn't get a ticket from the London Branch so as Loftus Road is only a twenty minutes’ walk from my home I strolled round there on Friday and got a ticket for my mate and I, in a QPR part of the ground. I then discovered on Sunday night that there were still some away tickets available but at least we'll be close to our end. In the home fixture back in August we were winning 2-0 with three minutes to go but ended up drawing 2-2. I think we'll do better tonight and my match prediction is 2-1 to us.
My mate's not a Sunderland fan but he's developed a bit of a soft spot for us. I met him outside of White City Station and we were in our seats not long after 7.00. My seat number was 73, which I of course took as a good omen. We weren’t far from the end with our fans in, though not many fans were visible at that early hour. I like Loftus Road as it's a very tight ground and you feel almost on top of the pitch. As for team-news, Pritchard and O’Nien were starting, in place of Neil and Michut I think. In the pre-match chat a couple came on to the side of the pitch and the bloke asked his long-time partner to marry him – well, that’s Valentine’s Day for you. I suppose she had to say ‘yes’. They always play ‘London’s Calling’ by The Clash here and that was fine with me. As the teams emerged there were still loads of empty seats in the QPR areas but our end was looking pretty full and they were in good voice. We were playing in red and white, which is always for the best.
We were defending our end as the match started and the home side did most of the early pressing without creating a serious chance. Both Ballard and O’Nien took knocks in getting the ball clear but they managed to continue okay. We barely had the ball in their half in the first ten minutes but our fans were still making the most noise. We were taking our time getting forward and there were too many sideways and backwards passes for my liking. Ba was looking impressive, though, and he held off players well as he jinked and turned. QPR continued to do most of the attacking but their final ball was often poor and our defence was looking unruffled. A low Lowe shot in the twenty-first minute was a bit close for comfort but we were straight up the other end and a Gelhardt effort hit their side-netting. We soon won the first corner but it came to nothing.
We’d started to get some fire upfront and a powerful shot by O’Nien was palmed away by Dieng. Field was injured for a while so by the half-hour mark it remained goalless. In the thirty-fourth a low shot by Roberts was turned out for our second corner. When the corner came over from the right it was finally knocked in from very close range by goal-machine O’Nien and I had to remember to be quiet as a deathly silence descended around me. There was plenty of noise over to my right, however. We were really purring now and another goal seemed on the cards. The home fans were getting very disgruntled. “Fackin’ superb!” the man next to me repeated as another pass went astray.
There were two additional minutes, just enough for Pritchard to get a warning from referee Peter Bankes, and it remained 0-1 as the half-time whistle went. There were plenty of boos in my immediate vicinity but I had an inner glow, a bit like Muttley when he gets another medal. Elsewhere Millwall were drawing and so were Watford but they’d kicked off at 8.00. We were fifth in the league for the time being at any rate. Watford promptly scored a goal against Burnley and we moved down to sixth - I did enjoy that five minutes, though.
When we kicked off again, there’d been no changes for us but Kakay had replaced Laird for them. We started brightly and I felt we could take advantage of the indecision in QPR’s defence. Patterson held an on target shot by Chair in the fifty-fourth minute and next thing O’Nien was down injured for a short while but of course he got up, dusted himself off and walked away. Just before the hour Roberts failed to get his foot on the ball when a great pass found him lurking at the left side of their box and a great chance went begging. Next thing Amad came on for Ba and I was pleased that my mate would have a chance to see him play. Field was yellow-carded for a foul on Pritchard as he sped into their half.
QPR won their first corner in the sixty-fourth and it resulted in a penalty for them. Everyone was on their feet all around me but when Chair took it, Patterson dived like a cat to his left and he got a foot to the ball clearing it high into the air. More stunned silence around me and tons of cheering away to my right. Pritchard was then subbed by Neil. With twenty minutes on the clock things were looking good and I felt the R’s had had their chance. In the seventy-fifth we conceded a free-kick near the right angle of our box but Patterson rose gracefully and plucked it from the air. Amad was starting to weave his magic down our right and one such move resulted in a Gelhardt shot hitting the bar. With ten minutes on the clock we brought on Ekwah for Gelhardt and Cirkin for Alese. Two minutes later we were 2-0 up when Clarke rolled a low shot into the bottom right corner and quite a few around me started to head off home. Amad looked on course for our third but Dieng managed to block it. Our fans were in excellent voice and I had to do a spot of translating of the chants for my mate. Five minutes of stoppage-time were announced and I fancied us to get another. As soon as I typed that we got our third when a cross from the right found Clarke in loads of space and he smashed it into the net. Cue the exit of many more of those around me. We kept pressing forward for another till it ended 3-0 to much booing.
This was a great and thoroughly deserved victory and we’re in sixth spot as I type this, though that may change as the evening goes on.
