Kone hits hat-trick as QPR hammer Swansea

Queens Park Rangers vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.

>Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City at the MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium on Saturday; Richard Kone nets a hat-trick and Jimmy Dunne scores twice.

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>Richard Kone made an emphatic return to form by scoring a hat-trick inside 15 minutes as QPR thrashed Swansea 5-0 at Loftus Road.

>Jimmy Dunne netted twice for Rangers, who were four up at half-time, as the Swans - who were top of the Championship until Friday night - suffered their second defeat in a row.

>The Welsh side remain second in the table, while QPR's resounding victory moved them back into the play-off positions in eighth.

>QPR were further boosted by the second-half introduction of Karamoko Dembele, who returned 10 months after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

>They continue to be hampered by injuries - in-form left-back Boy Kemper hobbled off late on, and influential players like Ilias Chair and last season's top scorer Rumarn Burrell are among key players currently sidelined.

>But it was a magnificent day for Julien Stephan's side, with Kone putting his early-season problems firmly behind him.

>The striker, who has struggled badly for fitness and form - and was yet to score this term - opened his account in the second minute.

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>Kwame Poku found Paul Smyth, who laid the ball across from the right for Kone to apply a simple finish.

>Rangers doubled their lead on nine minutes. After Kealey Adamson won the ball off Melker Widell on the right, Poku delivered an excellent left-footed cross towards Kone, who headed into the far corner of the net.

>When the relentless Smyth was brought down by goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux six minutes later, Kone converted the resulting penalty to complete his hat-trick.

>Swansea did have their moments in the first half - Adam Idah fired against the bar shortly after they went behind, and keeper Pierce Charles produced a fine save to deny Widell just before Rangers' third goal.

>But QPR were very much on top and they made it 4-0 when Dunne rose to head home Harvey Vale's corner in first-half stoppage time.

>Swansea boss Vitor Matos made a double substitution at half-time in an attempt to improve things, sending Jenson Seelt and Jay Fulton on in place of Stephen Welsh and Elijah Just.

>The hosts were comfortable, however, and continued to look threatening, with Jonathan Varane, playing in place of injured R's playmaker Nicolas Madsen, steering an effort wide.

>In the 86th minute, Dunne stuck out a leg to divert Kone's off-target shot into the net for the Irishman's second goal and Rangers' fifth.

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>"During the week, with the quality of the week (in training) he had, we felt it was the right moment for him to deliver this kind of performance.

>"In my dream, I probably couldn't have imagined a performance like this, with three goals, but he did everything during the week to prepare for this game in the best way.

>"Of course I am really pleased for Rich. But I think it's impossible to speak only about him today, because he received a real gift from Smythy for the first goal. Smythy also won the penalty.

>"I'm very proud of all the players. They deserve big credit. They found a way to disrupt Swansea defensively. I want to enjoy this moment."

>"A tough result. Not the performance we wanted and not the standards we want.

>"Of course, three goals in 15 minutes doesn't help. We lost confidence and organisation, and concentration as well.

>"QPR started much better and were clinical. First chance: score. Second chance: score. Then a penalty. That's up to us. We need to do better and we can do better.

>"Now we look inside, understand what happened and improve. When you lose 5-0 there is not a lot you can say. You look inside and improve.

>"We did all the wrongs. But you need to understand what's wrong and need to improve on that. If you just put it under the carpet, it's not right.

>"We are not a worse team now that we've lost two games in a row, but we need to listen to what these games are telling us and try to do a lot of things better."