Southampton delivered a commanding performance to beat Queens Park Rangers 4-1 at St Mary's on Saturday, extending their unbeaten run to five matches. The victory lifts the Saints to sixth place in the Championship table on 20 points from 12 games, with a record of seven wins, three draws and two defeats, and now just five points behind leaders Middlesbrough.
Kuryu Matsuki opened the scoring after eleven minutes, netting his second goal in as many games. The hosts took that narrow lead into the break, having seen a potential second goal for Jack Stephens ruled out for offside.
Cameron Bragg doubled the advantage ten minutes into the second half, finishing a move assisted by Ryan Manning. Keven Schlotterbeck then headed in a third from another Manning corner in the 66th minute. QPR pulled one back almost immediately through Richard Kone, but Southampton substitute Welington sealed the points with a stoppage-time fourth on a quick counter. This 4-1 result on Saturday 31 October followed a 3-2 win at West Ham on Saturday 24 October and a 0-0 draw with Bolton on Saturday 17 October.
Match in numbers
Southampton controlled the game with 54% possession and created the better chances, registering 19 shots with nine on target. QPR were limited to just two efforts on target from twelve attempts. The visitors' frustration showed, as they committed fifteen fouls and received three yellow cards, while Southampton kept a clean disciplinary record.
Goalkeeper Tonda Eckert was required to make only two saves, while his QPR counterpart Pierce Charles was busier with five. The Saints also dominated from set-pieces, winning nine corners to QPR's four.
Looking ahead
This result solidifies a strong run of form for Southampton, who have now won four and drawn one of their last five league games, a sequence of four wins and a draw. They have scored 24 goals this season, the second-highest tally in the division, while conceding only twelve for a goal difference of plus twelve. The team's top scorer this season is Cyle Larin with seven goals in 11 appearances. Attention now turns to the next fixture away to fifth-placed West Brom on Tuesday 3 November.
