Ilias Chair Shines in QPR Victory Over Portsmouth

Ilias Chair walked back into Fratton Park like a man determined to remind everyone what QPR were missing last season. Ninety minutes later, Portsmouth knew it better than anyone.

The 28-year-old playmaker scored twice and set up another as Rangers ripped through Pompey on the break to claim only their second win at this ground in three decades. Every time they sprang forward, Chair seemed to be at the heart of it, the difference-maker in a game Portsmouth had started by owning the ball and the mood.

Pompey strike first, and in style

For the opening quarter of an hour, it was all Portsmouth. They pressed high, snapped into challenges and forced QPR back towards their own box.

Conor Shaughnessy headed over early on. Debutant Luke Brooke-Smith drew a save. The noise rose, the pressure built.

Then Terry Devlin lit the place up.

When QPR failed to clear a free-kick, Ebou Adams recycled the ball and picked out Devlin in acres of space, more than 30 yards from goal. One touch, right foot, and the strike tore through the air, swerving away from his Northern Ireland team-mate Pierce Charles and into the net. A stunning hit, fully in keeping with Portsmouth’s bright start and their ambition in this third Championship campaign.

At that stage, it looked like the pattern was set. Portsmouth on the front foot, QPR hanging on.

It didn’t last.

Chair turns the game on its head

Rangers had come with a clear plan: sit deep, break fast, and trust their technicians to make the moments count. The first time Portsmouth switched off, they were punished.

On 33 minutes, Harvey Vale lifted a delicate ball into the heart of the box. What followed was a defensive mess. Goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid and his back line froze, waiting for someone else to deal with it. Chair didn’t wait. He ghosted in and prodded home from close range, a simple finish made possible by chaos in front of him.

That goal rattled Pompey. QPR sensed it.

Seven minutes later, they struck again. Chair, now buzzing between the lines, drove at a retreating defence and slipped in Koki Saito. The Japan international’s effort took a deflection off Devlin and wrong-footed Schmid, the ball spinning past him and into the corner. Two shots on target, two goals. Clinical, ruthless, exactly what Julien Stephan would have demanded.

Portsmouth, who had controlled so much of the early play, suddenly looked exposed every time they lost the ball.

The damage wasn’t done yet.

Counter-attacking clinic

Deep into first-half stoppage time, QPR delivered the punch that effectively settled it.

Amadou Mbengue tore down the right flank, eating up the grass with Portsmouth scrambling to get back. His cross picked out Chair, completely unmarked in the box. One composed side-foot finish later and the away end erupted. Chair’s second of the afternoon, Rangers’ third, and every bit of it a reward for sticking to their counter-attacking blueprint.

Three shots on target in the first half. Three goals. Portsmouth had the territory; QPR had the edge where it mattered.

Missed chances and a nagging question

John Mousinho’s side did not fold. They carved out chances after the break, enough to at least threaten a comeback, but their finishing deserted them.

Shaughnessy wasted a free header, steering it wide when he should have tested Charles. Debutant Abu Kamara was handed a gift when the QPR goalkeeper kicked the ball straight to him, yet his tame shot allowed Charles to recover and save.

Marko Milovanovic was also denied by the Rangers keeper. Rocco Shein found space but failed to make it count, his effort lacking the conviction the situation demanded. Off the bench, Josh Murphy – back from groin surgery – injected pace and flashed one effort across goal, close enough to draw gasps but not close enough to change the story.

Portsmouth had started this season talking about progress, about turning promise into something more concrete in the Championship. On this evidence, the ambition is real, the intent is clear, but so is the lesson.

Against a side with QPR’s counter-attacking precision and with a fully fit Ilias Chair pulling the strings, lapses at the back are punished without mercy.