Queens Park Rangers delivered a ruthless first-half display to beat Leicester City 4-1 and hand former boss Marti Cifuentes a nightmare return to Loftus Road. Four goals before the interval propelled Julien Stephan's side above the Foxes in the Championship table and underlined Rangers' growing momentum in the play-off race, while piling fresh pressure on an already under-fire Cifuentes.
An early effort from Koki Saito, followed by strikes from Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembele and Amadou Mbengue, put QPR in complete control long before half-time. Leicester improved after the break and pulled one back when Silko Thomas followed up Bobby De Cordova-Reid's missed penalty, but the visitors' late consolation could not disguise how comprehensively they had been outplayed.
Lightning Start Stuns Leicester
QPR seized the initiative inside two minutes with a goal that encapsulated the energy and sharpness of Stephan's side. A cross from the right was met by Rumarn Burrell, who stretched to nudge the ball towards goal, and it bounced off Saito at the far post and into the net for the Japanese forward's first QPR goal since August.