Queens Park Rangers hold out for point from Spurs

You don’t have to go far online to find somebody that will complete dismiss the descriptive value of most soccer stats. Possession, shots on goal – they don’t mean anything, they’ll say. And from a certain perspective, those detractors are correct. Often those numbers don’t correlate with whose most likely to win. Still, a great deal of the time, those numbers do a good job of describing how the match was played.

No so today at Loftus Road. Queens Park Rangers earned a point after a 0-0 draw against Spurs, but if you went solely by the numbers, you’d think they were battered all afternoon. Spurs maintained 62 percent of the possession while garnering an 18-4 advantage in shots and a 7-0 edge in shots on goal.

To be certain, Spurs were the better side, but the game was nowhere near that uneven. QPR gave up seven shots but goalkeeper Julio Cesar was rarely under any true stress. On the other end, while Hugo Lloris had a relatively easy day, he was still asked to make a good reads coming off his line to deal with through balls before they turned into real opportunities. Where Spurs were putting shots on Cesar, QPR were hoping to connect with one extra pass. Hence, the numbers.

Spurs did dominate possession, a product of their superior midfield and QPR’s tendency to play very direct. Rangers’ possessions were often finished in one movement, whereas Spurs elected to hold the ball for longer periods of time. Unfortunately for André Villas-Boas’ team, they still seemed to ideas against a team willing to sit back and let them hold the ball. Without something amazing from Gareth Bale, the game was destined to be drawn.

Both sides have reasons to be disappointed with the result, though Harry Redknapp will be happy. The QPR manager will look at this as a point from a top side (his previous team) even though a team in QPR’s position (19th) needs to try for three in all its home games. Spurs should also be upset (dropping points to a far inferior side) even if the remain unbeaten since Dec. 9.

Randomness

• Ryan Nelsen, playing his first game since being appointed Toronto FC’s coach-in-waiting, was QPR’s best defender, going the full 90 in central defense.
• Clint Dempsey started on the bench but came on in the 69th minute for Emmanuel Adebayor.