Huddersfield 2 QPR 1: Championship leaders go two points clear at the top
Kasey Palmer and Elias Kachunga seal victory as woes continue for the R's
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KASEY PALMER and Elias Kachunga kept Huddersfield top of the pile — and rounded off a rotten week for QPR.
Nuked by Newcastle five days ago, boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink saw his side trounced by the team that has surprisingly taken the Championship by storm so far.
Terriers boss David Wagner beamed: “This was a huge result for us after losing at Brighton last Tuesday. I thought we put in a fantastic, brilliant performance.
“We looked sharp, hungry and strong all through the team, while Rangers had not much of a threat apart from their goal.
“I am happy and proud with the way we have bounced back and I always had the feeling we would make something happen.”
Huddersfield’s 1-0 setback at the Amex did not inflict too much damage but Rangers’ 6-0 walloping at Loftus Road had, according to Hasselbaink, left his humiliated troops annoyed, angry and hurt.
They went into this tie looking to extend their unbeaten run against Town to seven league games.
But recalled midfielder Palmer made his presence felt with a couple of early attempts before putting the Terriers ahead on 14 minutes.
He finished a sweet move involving Tommy Smith and Rajiv van La Parra with a bullet of a header from eight yards out.
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Had it not been for their former Town keeper Alex Smithies, Rangers could have trudged off at the interval three goals adrift.
And it came as no surprise when Huddersfield doubled their lead on 62 minutes.
Smith delivered an inch-perfect cross to the far post where Kachunga rose to loop his header over Smithies.
Sub Idrissa Sylla gave Rangers a glimmer of hope by nodding home Tjaronn Chery’s 76th-minute cross but it was too little, too late.
Hasselbaink said: “It’s not been easy after what happened last Tuesday but this defeat is hard to digest, even though I can’t fault my lads for their effort.”