Will Lankshear's first-half goal gave Middlesbrough a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and ended the hosts' unbeaten start to the Championship season. The striker, who joined from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, scored his seventh goal since the move, and Kim Hellberg's side held on through a second half in which Rangers pushed hard for an equaliser.
The goal came in the 19th minute, Callum Brittain winning possession on the right and sending a low cross that Lankshear converted at the back post. Boro dominated the opening half, and Lankshear was denied by Rangers goalkeeper Pierce Charles from Sebastian Berhalter's ball over the top before the interval.
Rangers Lose Chair and Kone Early Queens Park Rangers, who arrived with three wins and a draw from their first four matches, were hit by injuries early. Ilias Chair went off in the 13th minute, replaced by Koki Saito, and Richard Kone followed in the 38th, with Rumarn Burrell coming on. Julien Stephan's side had little control of the first half, and the manager admitted afterwards that his team lacked tempo in it. "We had good ideas but we didn't do well enough with the ball and we didn't have enough tempo (in the first half)," Stephan said after the match.
Second-Half Push Without a Goal Rangers were a different team after the break. Burrell and Amadou Mbengue both forced saves from Radek Vitek, and Harvey Vale hit the inside of the post in the 77th minute. QPR finished with 52% of the possession and won 12 corners to Boro's three, while the shots were level at 16 apiece, Boro having six on target to the hosts' five.