Ipswich Town 0 Queens Park Rangers 3

Ipswich Town's unbeaten record was shot down in flames on Tuesday night, on their own turf and in front of their own fans.

Brimming with confidence, Queens Park Rangers swept them aside comprehensively, in what had at first glance appeared to be their toughest game of the season so far. Statements of intent don’t come much more emphatic than that.

Jamie Mackie was the chief assassin on the night, extending his glorious start to the season, but from front to back, QPR were well-oiled and well-drilled. Neil Warnock is best known for what he tells the press, but what tells his players is also taking root. Three points clear at the top of the division, on the early evidence they look the team to beat.

“I don’t think anybody could have coped with the way we played, to be honest,” Warnock said. “[Adel] Taarabt and Mackie will get the headlines, but the bread and butter players contributed tonight.”

Few sides have been able to defy Warnock’s Rangers this season, and Ipswich’s resistance lasted just half an hour. A rigid opening – as befitted two sides who had conceded just five goals between them this season – was punctuated only by a goal breathtaking in its simplicity and clinical in its abruptness.

A long ball by Alejandro Faurlin into the Ipswich area was all it took. Heidar Helguson held off Tommy Smith headed it down; Mackie controlled well under pressure, twisted free of Mark Kennedy, steadied himself and shot low into the left corner.

If the first goal showcased QPR’s muscle, the second was an exemplar of their movement. Taarabt galloped forward as an Ipswich attack broke down, and his early pass found a rampaging Mackie.

On and on Mackie went, ignoring the obvious pass outside to Kyle Walker, and from 20 yards out he fired the ball into the same left corner. It brought him his sixth goal of the season, a tally unmatched in the division.

Roy Keane could scarcely leave things unchecked, and on came forwards Tamas Priskin and Conor Wickham at half-time. Within minutes, it threatened to pay dividends, Wickham shaking off Clint Hill and pulling the ball back from the right by-line. Carlos Edwards fluffed the shot.

Marton Fulop theoretically kept Ipswich in the game with two sprawling stops in a minute, from Mackie and Taarabt. But Ipswich’s night was to get worse. Smith fouled Mackie in the Ipswich penalty area; referee Keith Stroud blew for a penalty, oblivious that Akos Buzsaky had lashed the loose ball into the top corner.

Both sets of fans railed at Stroud, and it was fortunate for him that Helguson tucked the penalty away comfortably. Rangers threatened a late fourth, but it would have been a harsh outcome. Besides, they had already made their point.

“Probably a fair result,” mused an equable Roy Keane. “We were all at about 90 per cent, and we’re not good enough to get away with that. We have to take our medicine.”

Jonathan Liew (dailytelegraph.co.uk)