Rayan Kolli double sees QPR move out of drop zone with win against Norwich

Teenage forward Rayan Kolli scored twice as QPR beat Norwich 3-0 to finally get their first home win of the season – and climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.

Jimmy Dunne gave Rangers the lead before 19-year-old Kolli, on as an early substitute for the injured Zan Celar, scored his first senior goals to seal an excellent victory for the west London side.

Rangers, bottom of the table a couple of weeks ago, have now gone four matches without defeat and three without conceding a goal – a run which has included two wins.

Irish defender Dunne, whose father died earlier this week, gave them the lead after 22 minutes.

Norwich were unable to clear Nicolas Madsen’s right-wing corner and the ball ricocheted to Dunne, who poked it into the far corner with the outside of his left boot.

Dunne then performed heroics at the other end by producing a magnificent challenge to deny Borja Sainz, who had been played in by Ante Crnac after Jonathan Varane had given the ball away.

As Norwich pushed for an equaliser, Ben Slimane shot over from six yards out after being teed up by Jack Stacey’s pull-back.

Rangers made the most of that let-off by doubling their lead in first-half stoppage time, when Kenneth Paal delivered a perfect free-kick from the right and Kolli headed past keeper Angus Gunn.

And Kolli struck again four minutes into the second half – just after Sainz had a goal disallowed for offside.

Kolli dispossessed Callum Doyle near the halfway line, galloped towards the edge of the penalty area and fired under Gunn, who should have done better.

Kolli went close to completing a hat-trick, twice shooting narrowly wide of target, while Gunn produced a fine save to keep out a strike from Kieran Morgan.

Norwich’s miserable afternoon was summed up when they had another goal disallowed for offside, this time after Crnac had found the net.

The defeat was a setback for the Canaries after back-to-back wins, but Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes will be hugely encouraged by his side’s recent ability to pick up points while a number of key players are unavailable.

Celar being sidelined would further reduce Cifuentes’ attacking options, with striker Michael Frey currently out along with playmaker Ilias Chair and winger Karamoko Dembele.

But Kolli certainly took his chance to impress.