SWANS: Kone hat-trick inside 15 minutes as QPR thrash Swansea 5-0 at Loftus Road

Richard Kone scored a hat-trick inside the first 15 minutes as Queens Park Rangers thrashed Swansea City 5-0 at MATRADE Loftus Road.

Rangers coped far better with the atrocious conditions, and the game was all but over by half-time.

It is the Swans’ second league defeat in a row, after last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to West Ham.

Richard Kone’s hat-trick inside 15 minutes

Vitor Matos made four changes. Filip Lissah returned from suspension, and Stephen Eustáquio, Elijah Just and Melker Widell also came into the side.

Kone, who was linked with the Swans in the summer and hadn’t scored since April, put QPR ahead inside two minutes, steering in strike partner Paul Smyth’s pass.

He headed in a second from Kwame Poku’s cross. He then completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Lawrence Vigouroux brought down Smyth.

Jimmy Dunne’s double from set pieces

The Swans had conceded only eight league goals before kick-off, the fewest in the Championship. Matos had warned that his side would need to do a lot of things right.

Instead the defence collapsed. Centre-half Jimmy Dunne headed in a fourth from Harvey Vale’s corner in first-half stoppage time.

The Swans had their moments in a chaotic first half. Adam Idah’s 20-yard drive was tipped onto the bar by Pierce Charles, on loan from Manchester City, and Widell shot too close to the goalkeeper.

Second-half pressure, but Pierce Charles rarely tested

Matos changed things at the break, sending on Jenson Seelt and Jay Fulton for Stephen Welsh and Just.

The Swans had a spell of pressure after the break, but once again faltered in the final third, with Charles rarely called upon.

QPR made it five late on, when Dunne prodded in his second after another set piece.

Swans stay second, but the gap behind them shrinks

Swansea stay second in the Championship, but only three points now separate them from ninth-placed Stoke City.

QPR move back into the play-off places with a second home win in a row.

Swansea City team v QPR

Swansea City: Vigouroux; Lissah, Cabango (capt), Welsh (Seelt 46), Tymon; Stamenic (Franco 64), Eustáquio, Just (Fulton 46); Opoku (Eom 64), Widell, Idah (Vipotnik 74).

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com