Taarabt keeps Warnock's revival rolling

Queen's Park Rangers 2 Plymouth Argyle

(GETTY IMAGES)

For all the emotions he provokes, there is no disputing that Neil Warnock can get the best out of a side, whether they are challenging for promotion or fighting relegation.

Warnock arrived at Loftus Road last week, the fifth manager this season to do so, in an attempt to breathe new life into the Championship strugglers. His arrival has certainly given Queen's Park Rangers the lift they so desperately needed as he secured a second consecutive victory in his second game in charge.

The home side dominated throughout, Hogan Ephraim and Jay Simpson going close before they took the lead. Adel Taarabt has the ability to both frustrate and amaze, and the midfielder, on loan from Tottenham, had demonstrated that midway through the first half when he beat three players on the edge of the box only to crash his effort over the bar. The Moroccan did not have to wait long for another chance, though, and nine minutes before half-time he coolly sent Plymouth goalkeeper David Stockdale the wrong way from the penalty spot after Kari Arnason had needlessly hauled Tamas Priskin to the ground.

"I think I'm the right type of manager he needs and he's already working harder than he ever has," Warnock said of Taarabt. "He's a gifted lad. They've got ability and they've got to add work-rate to it."

Any hopes Paul Mariner had of watching his side recover were all but extinguished four minutes after the interval when Damion Stewart nodded in Taarabt's precise free-kick from the edge of the six-yard box.

Plymouth are still seven points adrift of safety and Mariner said: "It was a poor penalty to give away and then we let another in. In our position we can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot."

Queen's Park Rangers (4-4-2): Ikeme; Connolly, Stewart, Gorkss, Hill; Ephraim (Cook, 78), Leigertwood, Faurlin, Taarabt (Buzsaky, 73); Priskin, Simpson (Vine, 85). Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Ramage, Borrowdale, German.

Plymouth Argyle(4-4-2): Stockdale; Duguid, Barker, Arnason, Sawyer; Judge (Bolasie, 55), D Johnson, Fletcher, Eckersley; Fallon (Mason, 55), Mackie. Substitutes not used: Larrieu (gk), Wright-Phillips, McNamee, Summerfield, Cooper.

Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire).