Ilias Chair Stars as QPR Defeats Portsmouth 3-1
Ilias Chair struck twice as QPR ripped up the script at Fratton Park, coming from behind to beat Portsmouth 3-1 and end a 26-year wait for a league win on the south coast.
For half an hour, it looked like the same old story.
Pompey fly out of the blocks
Under a hot sun and in front of a near 21,000 sell-out, Portsmouth tore into Rangers from the first whistle. Adrian Segecic’s early corner found Conor Shaughnessy, who headed wide, and the tone was set: blue shirts on the front foot, QPR hanging on.
Luke Brooke-Smith, one of the summer arrivals, stepped up next. He let fly from 25 yards, a fierce, rising drive that forced Pierce Charles to show safe hands on his league debut.
QPR barely had a kick. Their first real opening didn’t arrive until the 12th minute, when Pompey failed to clear a corner and Chair’s effort, destined for the net, was blocked in front of the line by Ebou Adams.
Portsmouth’s response was ruthless.
On 15 minutes, Terry Devlin collected the ball 30 yards out and bent a stunning curler into the corner of Charles’ net. The Northern Ireland international’s strike was pure, the finish of a player in complete control. Fratton Park roared. It felt like the start of a long afternoon for the visitors.
QPR’s problems deepened when Boy Kemper, also making his league bow, limped off after just 20 minutes. Portsmouth sensed vulnerability and went for the throat.
Abu Kamara, the £2.5m new signing handed a start, was inches away from turning in Zak Swanson’s teasing far-post cross. Segecic, buzzing between the lines, latched on to Colby Bishop’s clever flick and whipped in a delivery that Brooke-Smith failed to properly connect with. Then Segecic burst through again, this time slipped in by Kamara, only to drag his shot wide under pressure from Jake Clarke-Salter.
Pompey were enjoying themselves. QPR were just surviving.
Chair turns the tide
Then, out of nowhere, the match flipped.
Twelve minutes before the break, Rangers levelled against the run of play. Harvey Vale found space on the left and drilled a low cross into the six-yard box. Chair, completely unmarked, darted in to toe-poke home from point-blank range. One chance, one goal. Fratton Park fell quiet.
The equaliser rattled Portsmouth. The assurance of the opening spell vanished almost instantly.
Seven minutes later, the home fans were stunned. Koki Saito picked up the ball just inside the area and got a shot away. It wasn’t clean, but it didn’t need to be. The effort took a double deflection, first off Devlin, then Rocco Shein, wrong-footing goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid and rolling in for 2-1. Ugly goal, huge moment.
Pompey, so sharp early on, suddenly looked fragile. QPR sensed it and went for the kill.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Julien Stephan’s side struck again. Amadou Mbengue surged forward and whipped in a cross from the right. Once more, Portsmouth’s defending fell apart. Once more, Chair was waiting. Another simple finish, another punishment for slack marking. From 1-0 down to 3-1 up in 15 chaotic minutes.
Stephan later praised the “calmness” of his players and how they stuck to the plan. That spell before the break was the reward.
Missed chances and a controlled second half
John Mousinho’s team needed a fast restart after half-time. They almost got the lifeline they craved – gifted to them by QPR.
Ten minutes into the second period, Charles passed straight to Kamara, presenting him with a half-open goal. The debutant had time and space but shot tamely straight at the keeper, who gratefully gathered. It was a glaring miss and a moment that summed up Pompey’s unraveling.
Rangers tightened their grip. They managed the tempo, broke up play, and chose their moments to attack. For the first half-hour of the second period, they looked exactly how Stephan wanted them to look: composed, disciplined, efficient.
Chair, running the game and already with two goals, almost completed his hat-trick. He burst into the box and fired low at the near post, only for Schmid to block with his legs. The man of the match had to settle for two.
Portsmouth pushed, but belief never truly returned. Substitute Josh Murphy injected some urgency, smashing one effort into the side netting and flashing two more across the face of goal. None of them found a decisive touch.
Mousinho admitted his side had “fallen apart” after taking the lead and “gave ourselves too much to do.” The pattern of the second half backed him up: half-chances, frustration, and a crowd that knew the opportunity had been squandered.
QPR, by contrast, walked off with something far more valuable than just three points. A first win at Fratton Park since May 2000, a new goalkeeper and defender blooded, and a playmaker in Chair already in full command of the stage.
If this is the standard he sets on opening day, the Championship defences have been warned.
