Our twelve 21st century wins over QPR relived
Written by Cameron Ramsey on 19th October 2021
Cam relives our recent victories over QPR – and there are more than a few of them.
London derbies typically aren’t Fulham’s forte, unless it’s Queens Park Rangers we’re facing because, in which case, we’re absolutely superior. Since the turn of the millennium, the Whites and the Hoops have locked horns (if you can call it such) 17 times and over the span of 21 years – two-and-a-smidge decades – the Cottagers boast a resounding record of 12 wins, three draws and only two measly losses.
It’s spooky szn, and that return is outrageously scary. West London consists of four predominant outfits, being Chelsea, Brentford, Fulham and QPR, in no strict order. Two of the quartet grace the Premier League, which is irrelevant, and the others reside in the Championship, a division that demands genuine respect. We have tasted defeat, we have shared spoils, but what we’re here for is dubs, and we’ve plenty of those to rediscover and explore. West London will always be white, and this article proves it.
Embed from Getty Images31 January, 2001: QPR 0-2 Fulham
Nearly a year after their previous meeting, which was a drab 0-0 draw, the Whites travelled to Loftus Road once more and dispatched the Hoops 2-0, a victory compounded by Peter Moller and Karl-Heinz Riedle. The Whites were in command, and in their dominance, they moved 10 points clear at the top of the Division One standings.
Loanee Moller was freed by Louis Saha in the fourth minute of added time at the end of the first half, and the Dane’s tame shot miraculously managed to slip under a sprawling Ludek Miklosko. QPR attempted to claw their way back into the tie, with Peter Crouch testing Maik Taylor, although it would be Fulham that sound the last laugh, courtesy of Riedle’s bonce, and Miklosko’s flimsy palm. With 12 minutes to go, the Whites had done enough to claim a victory behind enemy lines, leaving their rivals languishing at the wrong end of the table.
10 March, 2001: Fulham 2-0 QPR
Only a few months after their comfortable win, Jean Tigana’s men replicated a similar performance at home, with fan favourites Louis Saha and Lee Clark bagging to condemn Rangers to another 2-0 defeat. On the half-an-hour mark, Saha was inches from diverting Bjarne Goldbaek’s cross, although his hazardous header spanked the underside of the crossbar and somehow, it stayed out. Have no fear, though, as in the 37th minute, Saha drove his penalty into the roof of the net, steering Fulham into the lead.
Lee Harper, between the sticks for QPR, was busy throughout, however he could do nothing as Clark picked up Luis Boa Morte’s cool thread through. Bearing down on the target, Clark nominated a spot and stuck away our second in second-half extra-time. Mission complete; Rangers done and dusted.
02 October 2011: Fulham 6-0 QPR
A decade or so later, having been deprived of a West London derby for so long, the Whites hosted QPR in the Premier League and what a scintillating whitewash it was, too. Fulham ran riot, with Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora combining, a perfect little and large partnership, to decimate the visitors 6-0.
It was a temperate Sunday afternoon and Johnson, who fizzed a ruthless hat trick, had Paddy Kenny sweating between the sticks. The diminutive striker registered the season’s fastest goal, in 89 seconds, and from then on, QPR flatlined. Nestled between Johnson’s exploits, Danny Murphy crashed home a penalty, Zamora whipped 30-yarders from acute angles and Clint Dempsey capitalised from close range. A day to savour, and a victory that stands to be one of the club’s most famous successes ever, let alone in this fixture exclusively. Oh, and Adel Taarabt ran off home at half-time in shame. Perfect.
25 February, 2012: QPR 0-1 Fulham
in the corresponding fixture, the narrative was edgy, as a 10-man QPR knuckled down to make the Whites graft for a hard-earned 1-0 win. Pavel Pogrebnyak latched onto Mousa Dembele’s ridiculous through ball to fire the game’s only goal. Samba Diakite, a debutant for the Hoops, received his marching orders just after the half-hour mark with a second yellow being brandished, a dismissal which was their fifth at Loftus Road that season.
Former Fulham boss Mark Hughes was in charge of QPR, and his side had only amassed four points from a possible 18 at that juncture of the season, so worsening our old adversary’s woes was wholesome and pleasing to the senses. narrow victories count just as much as the drubbings, after all.
Embed from Getty Images1 April, 2013: Fulham 3-2 QPR
On April Fools Day, 2013, the two rivals engaged in another titanic battle, one which the Whites would eventually win 3-2, amid a spirited fight-back from our guests. Dimitar Berbatov scavenged a brace from two Chris Samba errors and Clint Hill’s shouldered own goal handed Fulham a three-goal lead. However as QPR rallied, a response was wagered.
Taarabt grabbed a goal back just before the break and while Loic Remy spurned a chance to relinquish the deficit from the spot, the Frenchman atoned just moments later, pulling the score back to 3-2. Steve Sidwell was was given his marching orders, but even against depletion, Rangers couldn’t salvage an equaliser and their hopes of surviving in the top-flight waned further.
25 September, 2015: Fulham 4-0 QPR
A close encounter in the Premier League was soon followed by a comprehensive thrashing, with both teams back in the Championship, as the Whites rattled four past QPR without reply. Simply lovely, isn’t it?
As one-sided as they come, Moussa Dembele climbed highest to prise open the floodgates after two minutes and Ben Pringle doubled our lead in the 19th minute. Ross McCormack, skipper for the day and poised within the penalty area, rounded off the scoring with a double of his own. QPR rarely threatened to retaliate. As you were, then.
13 February, 2016: QPR 1-3 Fulham
This occasion comprised three goals, all within 15 minutes of the break at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium. The Whites pressed for an opener and in the 35th minute, McCormack made our pressure pay. The Scotsman’s no-nonsense finish sparked life in Fulham’s attack.
Shortly, Dembele found the back of the net with another header against our neighbours and in extra time, Tom Cairney made it three via a deflection. The second-half was relatively assured from the visitors, coasting on a cushy lead, however Tjaronn Chery did lodge a consolation goal for the Hoops in added time.
29 September, 2017: QPR 1-2 Fulham
Tension, suspense, limbs. A game for the ages, Fulham and QPR grappled under the lights at Loftus Road, packed to the rafters, and it was the mighty Whites that eventually stole the show, just. Jack Robinson kindly impersonated Richard ‘own goal’ Dunne and at 1-0 down, the hosts were stirring.
Heading into the dying embers, Rui Fonte spurned a penalty, however the Whites set siege and with five minutes of normal time left, pandemonium ensued. Fonte pulled a ball back across the 18-yard box, it was begging for a twatting and right on cue, Stefan Johansen catapulted Fulham’s following into rapture. It was a climax like no other, trust that, and though Conor Washington dragged one back for Rangers, it was Fulham that enjoyed a jubilant Friday evening up town.
Embed from Getty Images22 November, 2019: Fulham 2-1 QPR
An unlikely hero, in the brawny shape of Aboubakar Kamara, saved the day for Fulham, after Jordan Hugill silenced the home support with a smart finish in the third minute. A second could’ve been subject to Tim Ream’s erratic attempt at clearing danger, although the post spared blushes.
QPR started fast, stunning Parker’s boys, but a reaction soon surfaced. Refusing to wilt, Fulham hijacked the momentum and hit back in the 27th minute, when AK47 headed home with deadly precision. Uprights were smacked, more own goals flirted with Fulham’s defenders, both teams had opportunities to pull ahead however just after the hour mark, Kamara stroked his fortuitous second past a calamitous Joe Lumley, who presented the Frenchman with a surefire chance to wrap things up. He did, and another dub smiled upon Fulham.
30 June, 2020: QPR 1-2 Fulham
With Covid ravaging the Championship schedule, Fulham and QPR partook in a mid-summer skirmish en route to the Whites’ successful play-off campaign at Brentford’s expense. Again, Hugill’s trend of scoring really, really early dented Fulham’s disposition, and QPR, until Harry Arter’s 21st-minute leveller, were in the ascendency. As it was at Craven Cottage earlier in the campaign, both camps pressed for supremacy and befittingly, another unsung champion secured the victory.
Cyrus Christie, in the 75th-minute, galloped forward with the ball and unleashed a ferocious thump from range, and it stayed hit. He didn’t even know he had that sort of tek in his locker and it’s easily the greatest moment in the Irishman’s Fulham career. Winning a derby with a bang, that’ll do.
9 January, 2021: QPR 0-2 Fulham
In what is our only domestic cup meeting in recent years, Fulham came out on top yet again, although we still needed extra time, in order to eject QPR from the FA Cup in the third round. Mitrovic came close in normal time and Marek Rodak also had to extend himself to keep his team in the competition, it was fairly evenly poised.
In extra time, the Whites ramped up the tempo and the stuffing was knocked out of Mark Warburton’s team by two viciously struck goals, laced by Bobby Decordova-Reid and Neeskens Kebano respectively. Kebano’s was especially emphatic, and the shockwaves are evidently still felt in White City to this very day.
16 Oct, 2022: Fulham 4-1 QPR
Indeed, the malaise from January still lingers for QPR, who are the latest victims to have been sideswiped by Marco Silva’s ruthless, and albeit inconsistent, Fulham. Vying to bounce back after being humbled by Coventry City, the Whites took to the turf with purpose and Mitro slammed the first of four goals with an instinctive swivel and blitz. The Whites tend to begin the second-halves complacently, and with ten minutes of the second 45 played, Lyndon Dykes exploited some docile defending to square things up.
Ruffled, rumbled, the Whites had to respond and Mitro glanced superbly off the foot of the right-hand post. Kebano’s cross was inviting, the final product was devastating, because QPR completely capitulated for the remainder. In custody of the ball in a congested middle third, Jean Michael Seri spotted BDR’s run and putted the Jamaican into a prime position to draw blood and the 28-year-old did precisely that, blasting the bottom left corner without hesitation. The Whites were circling for another, spurred on by a raucous home following and in the 91st minute, Antonee Robinson punched a long-range effort goal-bound, a freak deflection deviated the flight of the ball and a wrong-footed Seny Dieng could only watch on in disbelief as a fourth was submitted.
Who said early kick-offs always go against the obvious favourites, eh?
