Southampton Vs Qpr: Saints boost play-off credentials with emphatic 5-0 win
In the southampton vs qpr clash at St Mary’s on Tuesday night, Southampton thrashed Queens Park Rangers 5-0 — a result that moved the Saints up to seventh in the Championship and stretched their unbeaten league run to seven matches.
Southampton Vs Qpr at St Mary's
The match at St Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday 24th February kicked off at 8: 00 p. m. GMT (3: 00 p. m. ET) and finished 5-0 to the home side, with goals from Finn Azaz, Kuryu Matsuki (a first Championship double), Leo Scienza and James Bree. The scoreline was Southampton’s biggest league win since a 5-0 victory over Swansea in 2023 and extended their winning run over QPR to six games stretching back to 2014.
How the goals came — minute-by-minute details
Saints opened the scoring with the first shot of the match in the 10th minute when Finn Azaz received the ball from Ryan Manning about 25 yards out, took a couple of touches and bent his finish into the bottom corner for his second goal in 16 outings; Azaz had been an assist-maker in each of his last three appearances against QPR. Kuryu Matsuki then nodded in from two yards in first-half stoppage time, meeting Leo Scienza’s corner for what was described as his first Championship goal.
Five minutes after the interval Matsuki scored again when Scienza’s curling effort was pushed away by Joe Walsh only into the path of the Japanese winger, who directed the ball home. In the 57th minute Harvey Vale forced a save from Daniel Peretz, but two minutes later Scienza countered, left Rhys Norrington-Davies on his backside and stroked a finish off the post for his sixth goal of the season. James Bree added the gloss in the 70th minute when he kneed the ball past a defender and volleyed powerfully beyond Walsh.
Referee, kits, broadcast and matchday details
Referee Oliver Langford oversaw the Sky Bet Championship fixture with assistants Mark Stevens and Robert Hyde and fourth official Tom Nield. Saints wore their traditional red-and-white-striped shirts with black shorts and white socks; QPR were in their away pink-and-black-halved shirts with black shorts and black socks. The game was screened live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football with coverage starting at 7: 30 p. m. GMT; Saints Play match passes were available in certain overseas territories. The match pack noted that free match highlights were available and included the instruction: "Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. "
Context, form and squad news
Before the game QPR had arrived at St Mary’s level on points with Southampton after an impressive 3-1 win at Hull on Saturday — that was only QPR’s third victory in their last 11 league matches, though they had lost only four of those 11. Southampton went into the tie unbeaten in six league games, winning four, and had been frustrated by a home draw with Charlton the previous Saturday.
The club matchday programme was on sale in a double edition (the same publication sold at Saturday’s home game with Charlton), priced at £4. Cover art was provided by 10-year-old Emma from Fairisle Junior School to celebrate the Saints Foundation Charity Matchday; the programme contained a feature interview with Shea Charles recalling the 4-3 comeback at Leicester, Tonda Eckert’s notes and the latest from the Women’s team.
Manager reaction and next fixture
Head coach Tonda Eckert praised his "quality players" for the display, saying night games at St Mary’s were special and that the quick pitch required sharpness from the first minute — a factor she linked to the opening goal. Eckert highlighted the need for confidence and said Matsuki had "kept his head down and worked hard despite not playing many minutes, " calling the performance a consequence of that work. She added that the squad must remain humble and work hard to "turn this into a really good month" as Saints prepare for their next match away to already relegated Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Eckert did not foresee "a big turnover" to the starting line-up after the Charlton draw; many players in this game had played their first minutes since the thrilling 4-3 comeback win at Leicester 11 days earlier. Full-backs Welington and Mads Roerslev remained sidelined, and Jay Robinson missed the Charlton game due to a quad injury. For QPR, new striker Justin Obikwu had still not recovered from an injury soon after joining the club, top scorer Rumarn Burrell was out with a hamstring problem, Nicolas Madsen and Jonathan Varane had returned to the squad at Hull, and Ilias Chair suffered a new setback after returning to training and would miss the trip to St Mary’s.
After a dominant 5-0 result that left QPR seven points adrift of the top six and lifted Southampton to seventh in the table — four points behind sixth-placed Wrexham — Eckert said: "Every game for the rest of the season will write its own story and every game will unfold in its own way but I think we have shown some statements that we are there. " The Saints are next in action away at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
