Jake Livermore brace guides Watford to victory at QPR
Throughout his extensive career, Jake Livermore has not often scored two goals in a single season. However, in a mere five minutes, he managed to achieve just that, adding to the already unfortunate situation for QPR.
Livermore, a former midfielder for Tottenham, West Brom, Hull, and England, who is currently 34 years old, scored two impressive goals from beyond the penalty box to secure a 2-1 triumph for Watford at Loftus Road.
Despite Lyndon Dykes managing to score a goal for Rangers, the team was unable to catch up and secure a draw. As a result, they are in a precarious position, facing the possibility of being relegated and currently behind by five points.
QPR had a promising start under their new manager Marti Cifuentes, winning three matches and drawing three out of seven. However, they quickly returned to their usual form and gave away a two-goal lead in their FA Cup game against Bournemouth, resulting in a 3-2 loss at home.
Cifuentes had the pleasure of seeing Rangers' key players, Chris Willock and Ilias Chair, return after missing two previous matches due to injury.
Willock attempted a curling shot that missed the goal while Chair's free-kick almost found its way into the net. This gave the fans of Rangers an inkling of hope for a satisfying afternoon.
The youthful player from Ireland, Sinclair Armstrong, scored a goal against Bournemouth. However, he missed an opportunity to score another goal when he headed the ball over from a pass made by Kenneth Paal.
The Rangers team dominated the first half and had their greatest chance just before halftime.
Armstrong made a break through the right side and shot the ball low, but the goalkeeper of the Hornets, Ben Hamer, was able to block it.
Chair seemed very likely to score on the rebound, but Ryan Andrews managed to stop him with a last minute challenge.
Merely 15 seconds after the second half started, Armstrong, who was full of energy, successfully evaded Francisco Sierralta, the defender of Watford, and headed straight towards the goal. However, his shot was skillfully saved by Hamer and diverted to the side.
A swift response by the Hornets team caused Giorgi Chaskvetadze's attempt to be diverted narrowly off target, and afterward, Willock was able to advance following Asmir Begovic's extended throw.
Willock passed the ball to Armstrong, who prevented Andrews from taking it away from him but accidentally hit it too strongly, allowing Hamer to immediately seize control of it.
QPR could not convert their chances which led to their downfall when Livermore received a pass from Matheus Martins about 25 yards away from the goal. After taking a touch, Livermore magnificently curved the ball into the net, leaving the goalkeeper Begovic hopeless in his dive.
He did it again after five minutes, but this time he hit the ball low past Begovic from 20 yards, after only half-clearing it.
The Rangers team responded by scoring a goal when Dykes lightly kicked in the ball passed in by Paul Smyth on the opposite side post with 13 minutes left in the game.
However, Hamer executed an impressive save to prevent Jimmy Dunne's shot from going into the goal during added time as Watford managed to maintain their lead and secure their first pair of wins against QPR in the league since 2005/6 during Aidy Boothroyd's time as manager.
