Rayan Kolli bags late brace as QPR ease past strugglers Sheffield Wednesday

Rayan Kolli scored two late goals for QPR in a 3-0 victory at home to Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday.

Rumarn Burrell’s 10th goal of the season put the R’s ahead and Kolli’s double sealed their first win in four matches.

But the points came at a cost, with top scorer Burrell among their players who picked up injuries.

Burrell, who has been a revelation since being signed from Burton during the summer, opened the scoring at Loftus Road after 14 minutes.

Nicolas Madsen combined nicely with Koki Saito and threaded a clever pass through to Burrell, who slotted past Pierce Charles.

The goal came shortly after Burrell was guilty of an appalling miss when he blasted the loose ball over the bar after keeper Charles had parried Richard Kone’s low shot.

Having quickly made amends by finding the net with a composed finish, Burrell’s afternoon was cut short on the 20-minute mark when he picked up an injury while trying to connect with Rhys Norrington-Davies’ left-wing cross before Wednesday’s Cole McGhee.

In fact, by the start of the second half, the hosts had already been forced to make four changes to their original line-up.

Liam Morrison was initially named in the side but was replaced by Steve Cook after suffering an injury during the pre-match warm-up, and the sight of Burrell going off was a worrying one for Rangers, who were dealt another blow when midfielder Jonathan Varane limped off just before the interval.

And winger Kwame Poku, who has been hampered by injuries since his move to west London from Peterborough during the summer, did not appear for the second period.

The changes, and the awful state of the Loftus Road pitch, resulted in a disjointed second-half display from Rangers, although Kone did bring a save from Charles with a header from Madsen’s right-wing corner.

Bottom side Wednesday’s own problems were underlined by the fact that seven of their nine substitutes were aged 21 or under.

They took 66 minutes to register a shot on target – keeper Ben Hamer comfortably saved Charlie McNeill’s effort – but did enjoy a decent spell in which the home fans’ frustration grew.

However, any Rangers anxiety was eased when Kolli, on as Burrell’s replacement, doubled their lead after 81 minutes with his first league goal of the season.

After Amadou Mbengue had won the ball, Kolli exchanged passes with Kone and fired past Charles at the near post.

Kolli netted again seven minutes later, finishing emphatically after Kieran Morgan had headed the ball into his path.