QPR stunned as rampant Swansea hit five

Miguel Michu and Nathan Dyer both scored twice as Swansea City condemned Mark Hughes’s new-look QPR side to a crushing opening-day defeat on Saturday afternoon.

Michu struck early in each half, scoring with a shot which new Rangers keeper Rob Green should have saved in the first half, and adding a clinical second after half-time.

Dyer added a third for Michael Laudrup’s side just after the hour-mark, tapped in a fourth as Rangers fell apart, before Scott Sinclair fired in a fifth to seal a quite stunning win for Swansea.

It was a result which – with striking similarities to last season’s opening day defeat to Bolton Wanderers, raises serious question-marks for a QPR side who invested so heavily during pre-season.

Four of Hughes’s summer signings were on show here, with Rob Green in goal, Fabio at left-back, Ji-Sung Park in midfield and Hoilett on the left of a three-man attack, while Andy Johnson came on in the second half, to no avail.

Despite a promising spell in the first half, when QPR created several good chances, the home side played without cohesion for much of the match. More worrying still was the manner in which they capitulated once Michu scored the visitors’ second.

After a fairly sedate opening, Swansea stunned the hosts by taking an eighth-minute lead. Impressive approach play from Wayne Routledge ended with Michu trying his luck from the edge of the area, and his shot slipped through Green’s hands to nestle in the keeper’s bottom left corner.

The home side responded well, and dominated the next 30 minutes, carving out plenty of chances. Jamie Mackie should have scored but could only scuff a close-range shot at Michel Vorm. Adel Taarabt and Samba Diakite had efforts blocked, while Fabio curled an effort over the crossbar.

In contrast to Green’s disastrous start, Junior Hoilett was revelling in his left-wing role. The former Blackburn man was all energy and running, and might have scored a fine equaliser when he cut in from the wing and curled a shot two feet wide of Vorm’s post. He came close again shortly afterwards, beating Vorm to Fabio’s chipped pass put floating his header across goal and wide.

But despite QPR’s dominance, they should have fallen further behind before half-time, as Swansea twice struck the woodwork. Ashley Williams provided the first scare, his powerful header from Jonathan de Guzman’s corner crashing back into play off the face of the crossbar.

With Rangers suddenly under pressure, another de Guzman corner left Green stranded and fell to Michu, who lashed a shot onto the face of the bar. Routledge hooked the rebound into the stand.

Hoilett was straight into the action at the start of the second half, driving into the area and tumbling under Angel Rangel’s challenge, but referee Lee Probert waved play-on.

Swansea made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half. Routledge led a swift counter-attack into the QPR half and played in Michu, who swept a first-time finish into the top corner.

Things went from bad to worse for QPR, as Swansea quickly added a third. Routledge was again the architect, threading a pass which Clint Hill failed to intercept, allowing Dyer to find the corner.

Dyer then lost his marker to prod in past Green, before second-half substitute Sinclair got in on the act, cracking in a shot which gave Green no chance.

QPR: Green, Diakite, Ferdinand, Hill, Park, Cisse, Taarabt, Mackie, Onuoha, Fabio, Hoilett.

Subs: Murphy, Derry, Johnson, Wright-Phillips, Nelsen, Dyer, Zamora.

Swansea City: Vorm, Taylor, Flores, Williams, Britton, Michu, Graham, Dyer, Routledge, de Guzman, Rangel. Subs: Tremmel, Tate, Sinclair, Moore, Agustien, Gower, Richards.

Attendance 18,072