Queens Park Rangers have moved off the bottom of the Premier League table after Charlie Austin's brace sealed a 2-0 win against Aston Villa in this evening's match at Loftus Road.
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The hosts had the better of things in the opening stages as Ashley Westwood lashed a volley towards the R's goal from the edge of the box, but Robert Green was able to save with ease.
However, the hosts took just 17 minutes to break the deadlock, Bobby Zamora chesting a ball into the path of Austin which allowed the 25-year-old to drill a half-volley past Brad Guzan into the Villa net.
Paul Lambert's charges, aggrieved at conceding against the run of play, countered moments later with Westwood playing a deep ball towards Christian Benteke, but the Belgian's header skimmed just wide.
At the other end, Yun Suk-young threatened when he cut inside and fired a low shot towards Guzan, prompting the American stopper into a fingertip save.
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In the 35th minute, Karl Henry and Mauricio Isla combined to set up Sandro, whose curling effort floated just over the bar.
Five minutes before the hour, Villa came close to finding an equaliser when Benteke beat Richard Dunne to send a header into the QPR box, but Ciaran Clark couldn't steer the effort on target.
Junior Hoilett's curling shot then bounced off the woodwork midway through the second half, but QPR's momentum proved fruitful when, in the 69th minute, Eduardo Vargas charged towards the Villa area and played a ball to Austin, who duly poked home.
As the game went on, Harry Redknapp's charges grew in confidence and nearly scored a third when they played their way out of defence and into the visitors' box, but Vargas's shot was saved by Guzan.
Nevertheless, Villa continued to push forward and, in the 80th minute, Green had to be at his best to pull off two saves in quick succession from Tom Cleverley and Clark.
QPR were able to see the game out and are now 19th in the Premier League table, two points from safety, while Villa are loitering just two points above the drop zone in 15th place.
Giuseppe Labellarte
