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Since he was entrusted with the mission of rescuing Queens Park Rangers in January, Mark Hughes has demanded performances from his team as high as the stakes they face. Frequently he has been let down, but this result and this display have helped convince him that his players are on course for survival. They pestered Swansea vigorously before sinking them with three spectacular goals to edge further away from the relegation zone.
"I can see signs that we now have a real understanding of what is required to stay in this league," said Hughes. "There is a real determination now to get maximum points in every game we play and if that's not possible, we have to at least get something from each game. That is the attitude we have to have."
The stadium managers sought to reinforce that message as before kick-off Loftus Road's giant screen showed Al Pacino's famous motivational speech from the film Any Given Sunday. A clatter of red cards in recent months suggested QPR's players have been more inspired by the actor's character from Scarface but here their intensity was matched by impeccable discipline, and their third successive home victory, following the wins over Liverpool and Arsenal, increases the belief that they can, as Pacino demands in the speech, "climb out of hell, one inch at a time". Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur are the season's last two visitors to Loftus Road and neither will be relishing the trip, although Hughes reckons his team will also need to improve their showing on the road and take points off West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea and Manchester City. His team pulled off one daunting challenge last night as they disrupted Swansea's usually slick passing game, a feat that has eluded many opponents this season.
Brendan Rodgers' team were pressed so intensively that they could seldom make their way into the QPR box, and it was the home side who created the most chances before making the breakthrough just before the interval.
Angel Rangel headed an Adel Taarabt free-kick to the edge of the area, where Joey Barton collected it and drove a low shot into the net. Three weeks ago Barton was booed off the pitch by QPR fans following what he later admitted was the worst performance of his career; now he was feted as a saviour, the crowd's cries of "there's only one Joey Barton" ringing in his ears as his team-mates engulfed him.
It was sweet redemption for Barton and vindication of Hughes, who had chosen to omit him from Sunday's defeat at Manchester United to ensure he would not get a booking that would have prevented him from playing in this game. "The other positive of that was that he came into this game really fresh and he topped off an excellent performance with that goal," the manager said.
Rodgers made three substitutions in a bid to avoid a fourth successive defeat for his team, but they soon fell further behind. In the 55th minute Jamie Mackie produced the sort of skilful flourish usually associated with Taarabt, spinning past Ashley Williams as he collected a pass from Anton Ferdinand before leaving Steven Caulker floundering and letting fly from 20 yards. A deflection off Rangel flummoxed Michel Vorm and gave QPR a two-goal lead.
Clint Hill heroically kept that intact in the 62nd minute when he dived to nod a Caulker header off the line following a Swansea corner. Moments later Akos Buzsaky embellished QPR's goal difference, which was already much better than the team's around them, by rocketing a shot into the net from 25 yards.
"We never deserved anything from the game," said Rodgers, whose side may be on 39 points but are not mathematically safe." I've always said we can't take our foot of the pedal, we still have a lot of work to do."