Ilias Chair's Double Secures QPR's Historic Victory at Fratton Park
Ilias Chair struck twice as QPR ripped up 26 years of hurt at Fratton Park, turning an early onslaught from Portsmouth into a ruthless 3-1 away win.
For half an hour, it looked like the same old story on the south coast.
Pompey fly out of the blocks
John Mousinho’s side tore into QPR from the first whistle. Adrian Segecic’s corner was met by Conor Shaughnessy, who headed just wide, and new signing Luke Brooke-Smith soon tested debutant goalkeeper Pierce Charles with a fierce 25-yard drive.
The pressure told on 15 minutes. Terry Devlin stepped onto the ball from distance and unleashed a stunning 30-yard curler that flew into the corner of Charles’ net. A long-range screamer, and a lead Portsmouth fully merited.
QPR were wobbling. Boy Kemper’s league debut ended after just 20 minutes through injury, and the home crowd – close to 21,000 in the Fratton Park sunshine – sensed blood.
Abu Kamara, handed a start after his £2.5m move, almost doubled the advantage, stretching but just failing to connect with Zak Swanson’s tempting far-post cross. Segecic, buzzing between the lines, latched onto Colby Bishop’s clever flick and whipped in another dangerous ball that Brooke-Smith could not quite finish. Then Segecic went through again, only to drag his shot wide under pressure from Jake Clarke-Salter.
QPR, up to that point, had offered almost nothing. Their one early opening came when Portsmouth failed to clear a corner and Chair’s effort was blocked in front of the line by Ebou Adams.
And then, just as Portsmouth looked completely in control, the game flipped.
Chair leads ruthless QPR turnaround
Twelve minutes before the break, Rangers struck out of nowhere. Harvey Vale found space on the left and whipped in a low cross. Chair, inexplicably left unmarked inside the six-yard box, darted in and toe-poked home from point-blank range. One chance, one goal. The mood inside Fratton Park changed in an instant.
Seven minutes later, disbelief. Koki Saito picked up the ball just inside the area and let fly. His shot was going on target, but two deflections – first off Devlin, then Rocco Shein – completely wrong-footed goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid. The ball rolled into the net, and QPR were suddenly 2-1 up.
Portsmouth, so assured early on, had fallen apart in the space of a few chaotic minutes.
Julien Stephan’s side sensed the vulnerability and went for the throat in stoppage time. Amadou Mbengue burst down the right and fizzed in a low cross. Once again, the defending was poor. Once again, Chair was free. Another simple finish, his second of the afternoon, and QPR went down the tunnel 3-1 ahead, the home support stunned.
From domination to disarray, all before half-time.
Pompey’s response falls flat
Mousinho’s team needed a reaction and were gifted a golden chance 10 minutes into the second half. Charles, otherwise composed on his league debut, passed the ball straight to Kamara, leaving the forward with a half-open goal. Kamara shot tamely back at the keeper. A huge moment, wasted.
QPR, by contrast, looked calm. They managed the next half-hour with authority, picking their moments to break. Chair, now running the game, almost completed his hat-trick at the near post, denied only by a sharp block with the legs from Schmid.
Portsmouth pushed without conviction. Substitute Josh Murphy fired into the side-netting and flashed two efforts across the face of goal, but the sense of a genuine comeback never really took hold. The earlier verve had gone, replaced by frustration and loose decision-making.
Voices from the dugout
Mousinho did not hide from the collapse.
He described it as “a really strange game”, insisting Portsmouth had been “in complete control for the first 25 minutes” and fully deserved their lead. Then, he admitted, they “took our foot off the gas,” fell apart after conceding, and allowed their energy and decision-making to unravel. They created chances after the break, he pointed out, but had “given ourselves too much to do.”
On the opposite touchline, Stephan cut a satisfied but measured figure. He talked up the intensity of Fratton Park and acknowledged Portsmouth’s strong start, but highlighted the “calmness” of his players and their commitment to the plan. QPR, he said, scored a “good first goal” and were “efficient” with the second and third.
He felt his side controlled the first 25 to 30 minutes of the second half and regretted only that they did not add a fourth when the game was there to be killed. Even so, he stressed the need to improve while choosing to stay “positive” after such a statement away win.
A long wait ends – and expectations rise
For QPR, this was more than three points. It was a first league win at Fratton Park since May 2000, achieved with a new goalkeeper in Charles, a patched-up defence after Kemper’s early injury, and a playmaker in Chair who looked a level above.
For Portsmouth, it was a jarring reminder that fast starts and packed stands do not guarantee control over 90 minutes. The early swagger vanished too quickly, the defensive lapses punished without mercy.
One game in, the question now hangs over both clubs: was this just an opening-day jolt, or the first clear sign of where their seasons are heading?
