The Times
Formula One decided yesterday that winning is everything and Flavio Briatore, managing director of the Renault team, has long subscribed to that idea in his guise as joint-owner of Queens Park Rangers. So last night's workmanlike victory was vital for Paulo Sousa, the QPR manager. The West London side had gone nine games without a win and have slid into mid-table in the Coca-Cola Championship, naturally prompting speculation about Sousa's future.
Sousa is the seventh manager to inhabit the warmest of hot-seats since Ian Holloway departed just over three years ago and a failure to reach the play-offs, let alone secure promotion, is not likely to go down well with the club's hierarchy. Now seven points adrift of sixth place with seven games left, this result at least allowed QPR to cling to their faint hopes. Swansea City stay three points below sixth place but their prospects are fading.
Roberto Martínez spring-cleaned his line-up, making five changes from the team that lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Jason Scotland, the Trinidad & Tobago striker and scorer of 21 goals this campaign, dropped to the bench. However, Swansea were second-best in the opening period and created too little.
Still, if short on clear-cut chances, the first half was entertaining enough, played at the typically hyperactive Championship tempo but garnished with moves of greater originality than are usually found at this level.
Adel Taarabt, the midfield player on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and making his first start for QPR, was the most beguiling source of invention. The 19-year-old paced the pitch with the self-assured air of one who believes he is too good for his surroundings. And he is probably right. With the ball at his feet he appeared able to saunter past defenders at will.
There was nothing enlightened about the home side's goal after half an hour, but there is beauty in simplicity. Jordi López fizzed in a free kick from the right and Mikele Leigertwood headed powerfully into the top corner from ten yards. Swansea had drifted into standby mode after Leigertwood's header but they pressed the "on" switch right from the start of the second half.
Thirty seconds after kick-off, Guillem Bauzà set Gorka Pintado through on goal and the striker fashioned room for a shot, finding strength but not direction. Had Pintado aimed for the far post he would surely have scored but his effort was to the near side of Radek Cerny's net and the goalkeeper made a decent save.
You could tell Taarabt is something of a maverick from his decision to wear gloves and short sleeves yesterday: not a fashion statement you ever see made by tough-tackling centre backs. Then there was the Morocco player's fetish for stepovers and other sleights of foot; even if it seemed to confuse his team-mates as much as it baffled opponents.
Despite Taarabt's Cristiano Ronaldo tribute act, QPR struggled to carve out opportunities. It did not appear much of a problem because Swansea were impotent at the other end after their brief flurry of pressure. Perspiration was now trumping inspiration.
The Independent
As players of the same age group, there was no comparison between Paulo Sousa and Roberto Martinez, the former being the famed Portugal international with Champions League winner's medals from two consecutive seasons in the mid-Nineties, with two different clubs, the latter a Spaniard who became famous, in Wigan at least, thanks to his work in the bottom two divisions with Wigan Athletic.
As managers, there has been some sort of role reversal, to judge by the Championship table, although Sousa is newer to this part of the game. But this victory last night showed that Sousa, the Queen's Park Rangers manager, has designs on besting his fellow Iberian there, too. He showed how proud he was of this result, when he said: "We've had a lot of critics and adversity inside and outside the club, but we beat the best football-playing team in the division, who have had the same manager for four years. As for the play-offs, we keep trying to win every game. But we have 10 players out injured."
Not that one victory in 10 games is any reason yet for the former Juventus and Borussia Dortmund midfielder to claim he has mastered the art of management, although it lifted Rangers to within four points of Swansea City and seven points shy of the play-offs. Martinez has certainly mastered the art of not taking defeat kindly, blaming the bumpy pitch for affecting his players, but an 11th game in 36 days is as good a reason as any for his side failing to push into the top six.
There was never likely to be much more than a single-goal margin at Loftus Road. After all, Swansea have drawn more games than anyone else in the division and Rangers had not scored in their previous four matches. Take away Dexter Blackstock, Rangers' top scorer with 12 goals, as the result of a hamstring injury, and the odds were even shorter.
Curiously, Martinez did likewise with his main attacking threat, Jason Scotland, leaving him on the bench. He did introduce the striker later, but he was unable to provide an equaliser.
The closest the hosts came to scoring early on was when Adel Taarabt appeared to be brought down in the penalty area, although the referee ignored all claims. There seemed to be less danger in the 30th minute when Jordi Lopez curled in a free-kick from 40 yards out, but then Mikele Leigertwood got in front of his marker to head past Dorus De Vries to foster some late-season optimism in west London.
The Sun
Paulo Sousa never feared for his job as QPR boss before ending a nine-game winless streak.
And the Portuguese coach is full of belief in his methods as he eyes the play-offs after Mikele Leigertwood nodded in a 30th-minute winner.
Sousa's future has been the subject of debate in recent weeks but he now reckons his Hoops can make up a seven-point gap that separates them from the top six.
He said: "We have had critics from outside the club but we have a team with union who try to get three points every match.
"The board has always been supportive. I don't care about opponents when we're looking at reaching the play-offs.
"It's not easy to deal with everything here but I believe in our work. This victory has been a long time coming."
Swans have now lost to Charlton, Crystal Palace, Watford and QPR on the road and are three points outside the play-off spots.
There is certainly still hope for manager Roberto Martinez, but if they do miss out on a place in the top six he will look back on nights like this.
Martinez left 21-goal top scorer Jason Scotland on the bench and it was not until he came on with 20 minutes left that Swans looked like scoring.
He said: "We did make changes due to fatigue. We're paying the price for the run of games we've had in a short time.
"If we want to arrive in the play-offs to challenge, we must arrive fresh and at the top of our ability."
Daily Mail
Mikele Leigertwood's powerful header on the half-hour was enough to end QPR's run of nine matches without a win. The midfielder nodded home Jordi Lopez's free-kick, but it was very much against the run of play.
Swansea manager Roberto Martinez said: 'No-one deserved to win that game. We didn't play up to our standards and Rangers achieved three points with a very average performance.'
The Welsh side had controlled the match up until the goal, with Radek Cerny having to make two fine saves to keep out long-range efforts by Jordi Gomez.
Clear chances were at a premium, though, with Swansea missing the influence of top scorer Jason Scotland, who was left on the bench.
QPR manager Paulo Sousa insisted: 'You have to play well to beat a quality team like Swansea.'
Daily Mirror
Mikele Leigertwood gave QPR their first win in 10 games last night to ease the pressure on coach Paulo Sousa.
Leigertwood headed home a Hogan Ephraim free-kick on 30 minutes, but the unconvincing victory and poor crowd showed the Rangers boss still has work to do.
Sousa declared: "We are working to win every game. We kept trying in the past and we will keep trying in the future."
Swansea boss Roberto Martinez said: "We are paying the price for the amount of games we have been playing."
