Johnson and Barton get acquainted

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QPR 1-2 Norwich City

Norwich City took all three points at Loftus Road on Saturday as they got the better of 10-man QPR in a closely fought contest.

Norwich made the brighter start of the two teams but it was Rangers who broke the deadlock with their first shot at goal. Midfielder Joey Barton picked up the ball near the edge of the box and managed to drill underneath Canaries goalkeeper John Ruddy to give the home side the lead on 11 minutes.

However the hero turned villain on 36 minutes when an off the ball incident with Bradley Johnson saw him shown a red card for a suspected headbutt.

It did not take long for Norwich to make their man advantage count as Anthony Pilkington found space on the edge of the box to fire the ball home with a superb strike on 42 minutes.

In the second half Rangers looked the stronger of the two teams despite the fact they were down to 10 men. However it was Norwich who made the advantage count on 82 minutes as Pilkington produced a decent cross which was headed back across goal by Elliott Bennett, for substitute Steve Morison to poke the ball home from close range.

QPR pushed for an equaliser but the Canaries held on to take all three points in the capital.