Sunderland extend their unbeaten run to four games, as Jack Colback's sending off helped the Lads win their first away game this season.
Tony Mowbray's red and white army were coming off a huge win over promotion hopefuls Southampton. A victory that has uplifted the whole mood on Wearside, and left many fans now reconsidering our chances of returning to the promise land aka the Premier League.
Not to mention, the transfer window is now closed and the holes we once had look to be filled. Yes, that includes strikers, we now have four strikers at the club. Hallelujah!
However, QPR were also coming into this game with optimism. The Hoops put two past a struggling Middlesbrough last time out, with the infamous Jack Colback picking up a goal and assist. I don't think I need to explain why he is disliked round these ends.
A month ago it looked almost certain that Gareth Ainsworth was going to be the first manager to face the chop, but recent results have suggested that he might be a good fit for QPR.
Starting 11: Anthony Patterson, Luke O'Nien, Dan Ballard, Niall Huggins, Trai Hume, Pierre Ekwah, Dan Neil, Jobe, Abdoullah Ba, Jack Clarke, Mason Burstow.
There was two changes to the starting 11, Niall Huggins made his first league start this season, and Mason Burstow made his Sunderland debut. Unfortunately, both Cirkin and Dack were unavailable due to injuries.
The Lads kicked things off, and were passing the ball around well. The game then got a bit scrappy and Kenneth Paal scored a long range effort to put QPR 1-0 up. Pierre Ekwah had picked up an injury from a collision and was subbed off for Alex Pritchard after the goal went in. A big blow for us.
The fouls kept coming, and Jack Colback of all people was sent off for an awful tackle on Jobe. He went in with his studs up, and walked off with his head down. Bye bye Colback. At this point I felt confident, despite being 1-0 down. I thought we were level when Jobe converted a header, but he was narrowly offside.
It was clear to see that Ainsworth had QPR playing like Wycombe. Even Tony Mowbray voiced his frustrations on the touchline.
Sunderland had the majority of the ball, but QPR were compact - this lead to the Lads passing around the box and looking for an opening. We finally equalised just before half time, Jack Clarke's strike deflected off a few players and found it's way into the back of the net. Not the flashiest goal, but certainly a needed one.
The first half ended level. It wasn't Clarke's finest hour, but his strike showed why he was on the pitch. Personally, I thought Trai Hume had a great half, he was tenacious and his timing was excellent. We were the better side and the game was there for the taking.
The 10 men of QPR kicked off the second half, and Patrick Roberts was subbed on for Niall Huggins. Mowbray had switched to a back three, so it was obvious that he wanted the Lads to attack.
Sunderland pushed forward and pinned the Hoops into their own penalty box. The goal finally came, and it was a quality move from Alex Pritchard that was tapped in by Dan Ballard. It was the centre back's first goal for the club.
Speaking of firsts, Adil Aouchiche made his debut for the club, replacing Mason Burstow. Sinclair Armstrong was then booked for a foul on O'Nien, the big man was using his physicality to try and bully our backline.
A lot of half chances followed, we had more of the ball and QPR were trying their best to counter. Of course they had to be cautious due to being a man down.
Abdoullah Ba put the nail in the Rs' coffin, when he converted Aouchiche's cross - great to see the French Lads linking up.
Jobe was then subbed off for Hemir. It had become very clear that we were going to see out this win. Hemir came close to getting his first goal for the club, but just like against Southampton the opposition keeper (Asmir Begovic) pulled off a great save.
The game ended 3-1 for us. I'm chuffed with that, Aouchiche looked good when he came on and everything looks like it's clicking. Four games unbeaten now, hopefully we can keep the run going.
ALS Man Of The Match - Alex Pritchard: He was quality today, he did everything but score. His deliveries were great and he created a lot of chances. Ba is my honourable mention, he is clearly growing in confidence.
