QPR secured their Championship survival in style and dealt Leeds’ automatic promotion hopes a major blow with a thumping 4-0 victory at Loftus Road.
Goals from Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field sparked a staying-up celebration in west London, as well as a promotion party in Leicester with the Foxes now guaranteed an immediate return to the Premier League.
But Leeds will find themselves outside the top two if third-placed Ipswich beat Hull on Saturday night, or Coventry in their game in hand on Tuesday.
Should the Tractor Boys win both, they will be promoted with Leeds consigned to the play-offs before the final round of fixtures next weekend.
For Rangers, a tough season climaxed in unusually stress-free fashion.
The Hoops, second from bottom following six straight defeats when Marti Cifuentes took over from Gareth Ainsworth in October, are safe with a game to spare.
They made a dream start by taking the lead in the ninth minute through Chair.
The Morocco winger ran at the Leeds defence, cutting inside Ilia Gruev before unleashing his shot from 20 yards.
The ball took a nick off the shoulder of Joe Rodon as it flew past Whites keeper Illan Meslier into the far corner.
Leeds had conceded the opener at Middlesbrough on Monday night but equalised quickly on their way to a 4-3 win.
They almost repeated the trick when Joel Piroe found space on the edge of the box but his low shot was palmed clear by Asmir Begovic.
Instead Rangers doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute when Chris Willock’s attempted cross was blocked by the arm of Junior Firpo.
The ball came back to the winger, who laid it off to Andersen with the Danish midfielder picking the perfect moment to score his first Rangers goal, sidestepping two half-hearted Leeds challenges before curling into the top corner from 15 yards.
Back came Leeds again and Crysencio Summerville’s far-post volley was kept out by a fine point-blank save from Begovic.
After the break Georginio Rutter should have at least hit the target from Sam Byram’s cross but glanced his header wide.
Rutter fluffed another golden chance when he turned in the area and pulled his shot horribly off target.
But Rangers stretched their lead in the 73rd minute when Dykes headed in Chair’s corner at the near post to make it 3-0.
And Leeds’ misery was compounded five minutes from time when Field got his head to Chair’s free-kick to score the fourth.
An awful night for the Whites means not only is their promotion fate no longer in their own hands, but it might even be decided for them before they next kick a ball.
Bolton boss Ian Evatt stressed it was “a lot more uncomfortable than it needed to be” after his side moved into the League One play-off final despite being beaten at home by Barnsley.After winning last Friday’s semi-final first leg 3-1 at Oakwell, Bolton had their lead halved in the 36th minute by Sam Cosgrove before hitting back with a fine Aaron Collins strike and an Eoin Toal ...
Scott Lindsey was in no mood for celebration despite his Crawley side taking a firm grip of their Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final by beating MK Dons 3-0 at the Broadfield Stadium.The Red Devils go into the return leg at Stadium MK on Saturday with a sizeable advantage after first-half goals from Liam Kelly and Jay Williams put them in charge before a sell out crowd of 5,564.Substitute Ronan...
Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan hailed Luke McBeth’s “disgrace” of a first professional goal after the centre-back got his side’s play-off campaign up and running.Thistle were trailing to Nikolay Todorov’s early header and toiling at Airdrie when McBeth won the ball, drove forward and fired a 30-yard strike into the top corner.Scott Robinson netted from close rang...
Inverness played out a goalless draw away at League One Montrose in the first leg of their play-off semi-final as they seek to avoid being relegated from the Scottish Championship.Against the side that finished fourth in the third tier, the closest Inverness came to snatching a victory to take into the return leg came on the stroke of half-time, Samson Lawal lashing a shot against the crossbar fro...
Bolton secured their place in the League One play-off final despite being beaten by Barnsley at the Toughsheet Community Stadium as Ian Evatt’s men edged the Tykes 5-4 on aggregate.Holding the upper hand after last Friday’s 3-1 semi-final first-leg win at Oakwell, Bolton had their lead cut in the 36th minute by Sam Cosgrove before hitting back with a fine Aaron Collins strike and an Eo...
Paris St Germain exited the Champions League at the semi-final stage as a Mats Hummels goal earned Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win at the Parc de Princes to send them through 2-0 on aggregate.Hummels headed in from a corner at the start of second half, moments after PSG had wasted a golden chance to level the tie when Warren Zaire-Emery crashed the ball against the post from close range.It was one of ...
A late penalty from Tony Wallace gave hosts Dumbarton a slender 2-1 advantage over Stirling Albion in their Scottish League One play-off semi-final first leg.The Sons snatched an early lead against their League One opponents when James Hilton headed home from a Kalvin Orsi cross.But Stirling responded just before the half-hour mark when Cammy Clark’s long ball found Dale Hilson, who cut insi...
Crawley took a firm grip of their League Two play-off semi-final by deservedly beating MK Dons 3-0 in the first leg at a sold-out Broadfield Stadium.Liam Kelly gave the Red Devils the perfect start with a fifth-minute opener and Jay Williams struck again in first-half stoppage time.Substitute Ronan Darcy hit a deflected third to leave the Dons facing a big test in the return leg at Stadium MK on S...
Blair Henderson scored a late penalty as Spartans squeezed a slender advantage from their cinch League 1 play-off semi-final first leg against Peterhead.Spartans, in their first season at senior level, had fallen behind after just eight minutes when Peterhead’s Conor O’Keefe burst clear and lobbed goalkeeper Blair Carswell.But Paul Watson slid home the equaliser from a corner in the 17...
Airdrie and Partick Thistle served up an entertaining 2-2 first-leg draw to leave the cinch Premiership play-off quarter-final in the balance.Nikolay Todorov gave Airdrie an early lead but Luke McBeth’s spectacular strike sparked a turnaround that was completed by Scott Robinson in the final minute of the first half.The Diamonds also scored in the fifth minute of the second half through Gabb...
- 1 7M Daily Laugh - Arteta : Fight Me Bro!
- 2 Mishel Gerzig stuns in sexy lace bralet as she praises husband Thibaut Courtois
- 3 English football WAG's honest pros and cons of lifestyle
- 4 Luis Enrique urges Paris St Germain players to keep calm in bid to reach final
- 5 Tottenham enter race for Serie A star
- 6 Arsenal go for Bologna striker Josh Zirkzee
- 7 Jorginho's Wag hits out at 'haters'
- 8 Jude Bellingham’s model girlfriend puts on busty display
- 9 Jamie Vardy linked with a surprise move away
- 10 Erik ten Hag rues Man Utd's ‘worst defeat’