| QPR | 3-1 | Wigan |
| (2-0) | ||
| Helguson (pen) 33 | Rodallega 66 | |
| Buzsacy 45 | ||
| Smith 81 | ||
Queens Park Rangers eased some of the pressure on themselves, while simultaneously heaping more on Wigan Athletic, by producing a solid performance to win 3-1 in their Barclays Premier League 2011/12 encounter at Loftus Road on the afternoon of Saturday 21st January 2012.
QPR took control in the first half, and came in at the break with a good 2-0 lead, thanks to a 32nd minute penalty from Heidar Helguson and a stunning Akos Buzsaky free-kick which went in off the post right on the stroke of half time.
In the second period, a 66th minute goal from a free-kick courtesy of Hugo Rodallega threatened QPR’s lead, but Tommy Smith scored on 81 minutes to restore the two goal margin their dominant display had deserved.
Wigan have scored fewer goals than any club in the Premier League or the Football League – that’s all four divisions of English football – so it is perhaps no surprise that, following another luke warm performance, they remain at the foot of the table, on 15 points from 22 games. Wigan are now four points from safety, a fact which will be sounding alarm bells for many in the North West: they require more than just a victory to get out of thier current predicament. With goals currently hard to come by for the Latics, its difficult to see where that couple of wins might come from.
QPR, on the other hand, with three points, have pushed themselves two points above the drop zone, into 16th place.