Watford boss Valerien Ismael was as surprised as anyone to see Jake Livermore score both goals in their 2-1 win at QPR.
Veteran midfielder Livermore has rarely scored two goals in a season throughout his long career, but he hit two in five minutes to pile more misery on Rangers.
“For Jake it’s not his job to score goals but we are pleased with him, he has a great mentality,” said Ismael.
“That’s three goals in one season – I can’t remember when he scored that many in one season.”
Ben Hamer had kept Watford at bay with fine saves to deny Sinclair Armstrong before former Tottenham, West Brom, Hull and England midfielder Livermore struck.
He collected a cut-back from Matheus Martins 25 yards out, took a touch and curled a superb effort past the despairing dive of Asmir Begovic.
Five minutes later Livermore repeated the trick, this time drilling a half-clearance low past Begovic from 20 yards.
Rangers hit back when Lyndon Dykes tapped in Paul Smyth’s cross at the far post with 13 minutes remaining.
Hamer then made a fine save to keep out Jimmy Dunne’s shot in stoppage time as Watford held on to complete a first league double over QPR since 2005/6 under Aidy Boothroyd.
Ismael added: “It was a great away performance, you saw everything we expected, it’s a tough place to come and get the points.
“In the first half we played well but maybe didn’t have the big chance to score, but we were in control.
“In the second half we said we needed to create chances and have the possibility to score.
“The more you shoot the more chance you have to score the goal. We have to make sure that is always in our mind and we are always on the front foot.”
Rangers are still in the bottom three, five points from safety and destined for League One unless boss Marti Cifuentes can turn things around.
“It’s a very disappointing result,” said Cifuentes. “We started very good, had good control and I don’t think they created any big chances.
“In the second half we had a very big chance in minute one, then another, but unfortunately they took the lead with their first shot on goal. It’s very frustrating, it’s not usual that we concede two goals from 30 metres.
“We didn’t give up, we tried to push and their keeper made a fantastic save. At the end I would say it’s a disappointing result but we need to score the chances.
“We were playing one of the best sides in the league and we dominated. We got really big chances. We need to bounce back.”
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
