West Ham United loanee Jordan Hugill scored twice for Queen’s Park Rangers in their Emirates FA Cup third round thrashing of Swansea City.
Despite being handed a tricky tie against playoff-chasing division rivals Swansea, Hugill was in electric form for the R’s, netting a brace inside the first 45 to set his team on their way to a comfortable 5-1 victory.
After being rested in the last match of a busy festive period, the 27-year-old was recalled to the starting eleven to lead the line – and promptly set about making his mark.
After two teams exchanged chances inside the first 20 minutes, QPR took the lead when Bright Osayi-Samuel and Todd Kane linked up down the right, the latter crossing for Hugill, who – with plenty of work still to do – chested the ball in front of him and lashed a volley into the bottom corner from 16 yards.
We need to talk about @QPR's opening goal ?#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/m8SaVaANI5
— The Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) 5 January 2020
That brilliant finish was followed up eight minutes later when Osayi-Samuel won the ball inside the Swansea area and dispatched coolly, before Hugill’s second before half-time effectively sealed the game as a contest.
When Ilias Chair’s flat free-kick was whipped towards the far post, Hugill was on hand to slide in and prod home from close range – the striker's tenth goal in all competitions this season.
In the second half, Swansea substitute George Byers pulled a goal back with a low strike on the hour mark, but the R’s remained in command.
Further volleys from left-back Lee Wallace and Josh Scowen – the latter a wonder goal for its audacious angle – added gloss to the scoreline inside the final quarter of an hour.
The resounding victory meant QPR are through to the fourth round of the competition for the second consecutive year, having lost in the third round the prior five campaigns. They will be ball number 2 in this evening’s draw.
Hugill will now look forward to returning to Championship action when they travel to Brentford this coming Saturday lunchtime.
