Queens Park Rangers boss Martí Cifuentes gave a slanted view of Sheffield Wednesday’s mode of victory as his side crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Michael Smith and Callum Paterson scored second-half goals to help the Owls win a feisty encounter and earn a well-deserved three points. QPR, coming off five consecutive home victories, had almost 60% possession but generated few chances, finishing with only two shots on target to Wednesday’s five and a pathetic xG of 0.39.
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard spoke philosophically about a run that brought them within four points of the play-off places after a slow start to the season – but he also expressed frustration at what he saw as persistent fouling by Wednesday, which he felt went unpunished by referee Sam Allison. Wednesday committed 16 fouls in the encounter, compared to QPR’s 10.
“The first goal was a game changer,” Cifuentes explained. “We struck the crossbar, had the rebound with Illy (Ilias Chair), and we knew that in a game like today, where there were few chances and many delays. Every time we beat our opponent, it resulted in a free kick. It wasn’t easy to develop our flowing, aggressive approach. The construction process was challenging due to frequent interruptions.We (him and Allison) talked about the problem, and everything is well. I respect every referee. They have a really difficult task.”
Cifuentes and Owls manager Danny Röhl are well regarded in the league for the work they have done since joining the Championship last season. Both relatively unknown foreign coaches pulled off spectacular survival efforts, propelling their teams into the top half of the table this season.
Röhl currently appears to have the upper hand on the QPR man, having won three and drawn one of their four meetings. When reminded of that record, Cifuentes was deadpan when he stated, “I am not good enough. “I need to keep working and learning.”These are challenging games. We wanted it today, but I’m not sure how many times we were fouled, how many times we beat the man, and there was a free kick that went nowhere. For us, it is critical that we play faster and find other ways to unlock items in games like this.”
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