Ilias Chair Stars as QPR Overcomes Portsmouth 3-1
Ilias Chair struck twice as QPR ripped up the script at Fratton Park, overturning an early deficit to beat Portsmouth 3-1 and end a 26-year wait for a league win on the south coast.
For half an hour, it looked like a long afternoon for the visitors.
Pompey fly out of the blocks
Portsmouth, roared on by a near 21,000 sellout in the sunshine, came out with real purpose. Adrian Segecic’s early corner found Conor Shaughnessy, who headed wide, and new signing Luke Brooke-Smith soon stung the palms of debutant keeper Pierce Charles with a fierce 25-yard drive.
QPR could barely get out. When they did, it was scrappy. Their first half-chance arrived on 12 minutes, a corner not properly cleared and Ilias Chair’s effort blocked almost on the line by Ebou Adams.
Pompey’s pressure demanded a goal, and Terry Devlin delivered one worthy of the occasion. On 15 minutes, the Northern Ireland midfielder stepped onto the ball 30 yards out and whipped a stunning curler into the corner of Charles’ net. Fratton Park erupted; the lead was fully merited.
Julien Stephan’s side then took another blow. Boy Kemper, one of two league debutants alongside Charles, limped off after just 20 minutes. Portsmouth sensed vulnerability. Abu Kamara, their £2.5m summer capture, almost stretched the lead, sliding in agonisingly close to Zak Swanson’s teasing far-post cross.
Segecic buzzed between the lines, latching on to Colby Bishop’s clever flick and flashing in a cross that Brooke-Smith could not quite finish. Kamara then sent him clear again, only for Segecic to drag his shot wide under pressure from Jake Clarke-Salter.
Pompey were enjoying themselves. QPR were hanging on.
Then the game flipped.
Chair turns the tide
Twelve minutes before the break, Rangers equalised out of nowhere. Harvey Vale found space on the left and drilled in a low cross. Chair, completely unmarked, darted into the six-yard box and toe-poked home from point-blank range. One chance, one goal. The mood inside Fratton shifted.
The home crowd had barely processed the equaliser when chaos struck. Seven minutes later, Koki Saito tried his luck from just inside the area. His shot was going on target, but two deflections – first off Devlin, then Rocco Shein – sent the ball spinning away from Nicolas Schmid, who was left helpless as it wrong-footed him and rolled in. From dominance to disbelief: Portsmouth 1-2 QPR.
The defending was poor. It got worse in first-half stoppage time.
Amadou Mbengue surged down the right and whipped in a low cross. Again, Pompey failed to deal with it. Again, Chair was free. The Moroccan made no mistake, sweeping in another simple finish to claim his second of the afternoon and give QPR a 3-1 lead at the interval.
Three goals in 15 brutal minutes. Portsmouth, so controlled early on, had simply unravelled.
Pompey waste their lifeline
John Mousinho’s side needed a reaction and they almost got the perfect start to the second half, only for Kamara to squander a golden chance. Charles passed the ball straight to him, presenting a half-open goal, but Kamara’s tame shot went straight back at the grateful keeper. It summed up Portsmouth’s afternoon.
QPR, calmer now and settled into Stephan’s structure, managed the game. They slowed the tempo, took the sting out of the crowd, and picked their moments to break. Chair, at the heart of everything, almost completed his hat-trick, denied only by Schmid’s sharp save with his legs at the near post.
Mousinho turned to his bench. Substitute Josh Murphy injected pace and threatened down the flank, fizzing one effort into the side-netting and twice driving dangerous balls across the face of goal. The intent was there. The conviction wasn’t. Portsmouth never truly looked like mounting a serious comeback.
Managers’ verdicts
Mousinho did not hide his frustration afterwards. He described it as a “really strange game”, one his side controlled for 25 minutes before “falling apart” once they scored. He felt the equaliser drained his players, prompting poor decisions and a loss of dominance, and admitted Portsmouth had “given ourselves too much to do” despite creating chances after the break.
Stephan, in contrast, highlighted his team’s composure in a hostile environment. He praised the way QPR rode out Portsmouth’s fast start, stuck to the plan and punished their hosts with ruthless efficiency for the first-half turnaround. The Frenchman was largely positive, though he admitted to one regret: failing to add a fourth during a spell in the second half when QPR carved out good openings and could have “killed the game”.
They did not need it. The damage had been done before the interval.
A first win at Fratton Park since May 2000, a two-goal salvo from Chair, and a marker laid down on opening day. For Portsmouth, the question now is simple: was this just an early-season lapse, or the first warning sign of a more fragile campaign than they expected?
