Derby steal it from QPR despite being dominated for 90 minutes

The second half is where this match turned farcical in QPR's favour and then catastrophic. Kone restored QPR's lead in the 55th minute, and for forty minutes afterwards, the home side utterly bossed proceedings. They created chance after chance, racking up twelve shots on target. Derby managed just two. The statistics screamed QPR. The expected goals chart screamed QPR. Yet Derby, with characteristic bloodymindedness, refused to be dismissed.

Kone restored QPR's lead in the 55th minute, and for forty minutes afterwards, the home side utterly bossed proceedings. They created chance after chance, racking up twelve shots on target. Derby managed just two. The statistics screamed QPR. The expected goals chart screamed QPR. Yet Derby, with characteristic bloodymindedness, refused to be dismissed. Langas levelled it in the 76th minute, and suddenly Derby had seized the momentum.

Langas levelled it in the 76th minute, and suddenly Derby had seized the momentum. This wasn't luck; this was a side that had been waiting in the shadows and pounced the moment QPR's concentration wavered. Banel delivered the killer blow in the 88th minute, finishing off Clarke's assist to send Derby eight points clear of QPR in the standings. In the space of thirteen minutes, the entire complexion of this match reversed.

John Busby's refereeing was largely unremarkable, though Derby's accumulation of yellow cards (three to QPR's one) tells its own story about which side was being tested defensively. Functionally, though, the official barely factored into proceedings. This was about two sides operating at completely different wavelengths: one suffocating their opponent without converting dominance into goals, the other clinical, composed, and lethal when it mattered.

QPR's form continues its alarming downward trajectory. They've won just one of their last five and remain mired in 13th, eight points adrift of safety. Derby, meanwhile, climb towards the playoffs proper with a record that now reads two wins in their last five. This is exactly the kind of result that defines seasons. QPR won't forget being so thoroughly outshot yet defeated. Derby will cherish it. For one side, it's soul-destroying. For the other, it's the stuff of miracle runs.