QPR vs Watford result: Etienne Capoue fires Javi Gracia’s side into FA Cup quarter-finals

Watford are one win from Wembley, and while there are better teams left in the FA Cup than Queens Park Rangers, they will hope for an easier ride than this in their quarter-final, no matter who they play. This 1-0 win might look unremarkable when written down but it was a draining slog, a dodged bullet, a classic cup tie which was in the balance all the way until the final whistle as Watford clung on to their lead.

For all the criticism of the kick-off times in this year’s competition, this game was a vindication of the spreading of ties across the weekend. A proper atmosphere at a proper ground, it energised the occasion, emboldened the crowd, and levelled the contest.

QPR were no-one’s favourites here and yet they were the better team, judging by both the quality and quantity of their chances.

Nakhi Wells missed two good chances, his second curling just wide of the post, while Toni Leistner may wonder for years how he failed to equalise in the final minutes as QPR tried and failed to take it to extra-time.

The only goal came from Etienne Capoue, right at the end of the first half. Watford did not attack much after that but they did not need to.

Loftus Road has not been like this for years. Not just because this was Rangers’ first fifth round game since 1997, since the days of Stuart Houston, Danny Dichio and Trevor Sinclair. But because since their relegation from the Premier League in 2015 QPR have been living a restricted existence, forced into austerity, a transfer ban, having to be smarter every year simply to stay in the Championship.

This cup run, Rangers’ best in a generation, has given the club something back. A sense of adventure. A flash of attention. And a night like this, when the local crowd poured in after work, filling the ground for its biggest game in years.

You might have expected the QPR players to be flat, just 72 hours after their painful last-gasp defeat at Bristol City. There was even some pessimism among the squad beforehand about how they would cope with a fresh Watford team here.

But instead, QPR were lit up by the crowd and the occasion. With Ebere Eze on the bench they were short on quality, but there was no doubting their effort. Matt Smith was a permanent target for diagonal balls while Nakhi Wells ran onto Luke Freeman’s pass to force Heurelho Gomes to save down low. It felt as if QPR had generated something resembling momentum.

All Rangers had to do was get to half time, then push again in the second half. But as the board went up for four added minutes they let their guards down, and Watford pounced. Jose Holebas and Ken Sema worked a corner into the box, Tom Cleverley scuffed his volley. but the ball fell to Etienne Capoue who stroked it through a forest of legs into the bottom corner.

So QPR had to come back out and do it all over again. They started the second half with a flash of energy from players and fans. They got down the sides, they hit Matt Smith, and the whole ground went up a gear when they won a corner. When Christian Kabasele gifted the ball to Wells, he had time to pick his spot, curling the ball left-footed beyond Gomes, but just beyond the far top corner of the net.

QPR players and fans looked aghast at how close it was to an equaliser. It felt instantly like the moment that would decide the tie.

As the minutes ticked by QPR looked like they knew they had missed their bus, and yet an even better chance was yet to come with just five minutes left.

A clever free-kick went to Darnell Furlong at the far post and he knocked the ball back across goal. Toni Leistner slid in at the opposite side, just needing to knock the ball into the net, but he could not. 15,000 home fans held their heads in their hands. They rose again at the end to applaud their team, defeated, out of the cup, but proud of their efforts.