Austin brace lifts QPR off the foot of the table

LONDON — Charlie Austin scored twice to lift Queens Park Rangers off the bottom of the Premier League with a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa on Monday.

Manager Harry Redknapp was under pressure after his struggling side had won just once in their opening eight games but a goal in either half from Austin helped lighten the mood at Loftus Road.

Aston Villa, beaten in their last five games without scoring a goal, started brightly but Austin calmed the home fans’ nerves when he lashed an excellent half volley into the bottom corner with 17 minutes gone.

As the visitors went in search of an equaliser the QPR striker struck again after 69 minutes with a deft side-footed finish inside Villa keeper Brad Guzan’s near post from an Eduardo Vargas cross.

The win lifted Redknapp’s side to 19th on seven points, ahead of Burnley on four, while Villa dropped to 15th in the table with their search for a league goal extending to over eight hours.

“It was an excellent performance,” Redknapp told Sky Sports television. “They dominated possession in the second half but once we put an extra man into midfield we started seeing more of the ball and hit the post before scoring a second.

“There’s no reason why Charlie Austin can’t score a lot of goals this season, I’m pleased for the lad.

“There’s nothing in the league in terms of points,” added Redknapp. “We’re only four points behind Hull in 10th.”

Villa had previously played last season’s top five league teams in consecutive fixtures, enduring a miserable run of four straight defeats, but any hopes of picking up easy points at QPR were soon dispelled.

All of QPR’s points this season have come at home and they proved to be difficult opposition again for Paul Lambert’s side.

Scenes of jubilation from the home fans were in stark contrast to Lambert’s men, who must be wondering where their next league goal is coming from.

Prolific marksmen Christian Benteke made only his second start since March but he drew a blank as Villa’s inability to score became almost farcical.

The visitors had started like a team determined to get back to the winning ways that had seen them reach as high as second in the table in the opening weeks of the season.

But the hosts turned the tide when Bobby Zamora nodded a long ball down to the edge of the area for Austin to finish.

Ciaran Clark nearly equalised after the restart when Benteke headed down to the defender but he failed to apply the finish only metres from Robert Green’s goal.

To compound Villa’s miseries Austin quickly made it 2-0, making the miss even more costly.

Vargas nearly added a third when substitute Junior Hoilett put him through on goal but the Chilean fired straight at Guzan.

Villa’s on-loan midfielder Tom Cleverley nearly ended their wait for a goal with 10 minutes to go but Green parried his volley and QPR’s Sandro made an important tackle from Clark at the rebound.