QPR 1-2 Brighton: Seagulls back on top of Championship

Brighton climbed back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship, and edged closer to promotion, with a hard-fought 2-1 win at QPR on Friday night.

Second-half goals from Glenn Murray and Sebastien Pocognoli clinched the three points for the Seagulls at Loftus Road, to put them back above Newcastle in the table.

More importantly, though, Chris Hughton's side are now 12 points clear of Huddersfield in third, although the Terriers have two games in hand.

QPR, who got a late consolation goal through Matt Smith, remain 16th in the table after Ian Holloway's side lost their third game in succession.

Brighton had the ball in the back of the net twice in the first half, but on both occasions their efforts were in vain as offside flag went up.

First it was Murray, poking in from Anthony Knockaert's cross after 33 minutes. Then it was his strike partner Tomer Hemed 10 minutes later, also ruled out after sliding in to convert a shot by Pocognoli that had deflected into his path.

It was a fairly even 45 minutes, though, with QPR having plenty of the game themselves but failing to create any clear-cut chances in the box. Their best efforts come from outside the area as Conor Washington and James Perch both fired over in decent positions, while Ryan Manning stung the palms of David Stockdale on a couple of occasions.

The game started to open up in the second half and, after 58 minutes, Brighton took the lead. This time Murray wasn't offside as he played a one-two with Hemed that evaded the entire QPR defence, before the striker charged through and coolly slotted past Alex Smithies.

And six minutes later they doubled their lead as Murray won a free-kick on the edge of the area, and Pocognoli stepped up to curl an unstoppable strike right into the top corner.

Holloway's QPR are made of stern stuff, though, and they were back in the game after 74 minutes as Smith rose highest from a corner to head home.

An onslaught followed but the home side couldn't find an equaliser, as Brighton held on for a vital win.

QPR boss Ian Holloway:

"We're trying to evolve and get better. They're a really good club who have been consistent as anybody and we knew how tough it would be. I had to try and find a weakness and we didn't quite do what we wanted to do. They haven't really got a weakness to be honest.

"But you don't let Glenn Murray run from that far out towards your goal. With the greatest respect he isn't the quickest in the world. Defending is about recovery and getting back on someone, and we didn't do that.

"But we did everyone else in the league proud by having a go at the team at the top."

Brighton boss Chris Hughton:

"It was a big win, but at this moment every win feels like the biggest win, as it would at this point in the season. I thought we deserved it over the 90 minutes, although we probably rode our luck a bit towards the end.

"It became an old-fashioned game, but when you've got someone like Matt Smith who cause the problems he does, we've all been in that position where we go a bit more direct. It was difficult for us but we showed some great character and determination in the last period and I think it would have been a bit unjust if they got the equaliser.

"It's a third win in six games, which is a tremendous achievement, and it's always nice to play on a Friday night when you win."

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