Queen's Park Rangers took all three points away from Portsmouth in the Championship's opening round, winning 3–1 at Fratton Park on Saturday. The visitors had already looked comfortable by then, taking a two-goal lead before the break. Terry Devlin pulled one back for the hosts, but it was never enough.
Ilias Chair opened the scoring in the thirty-third minute, and Koki Saito doubled the advantage just seven minutes later. Devlin's effort in the fifteenth minute had given Portsmouth hope, but Chair added a second in stoppage time before half-hour. The hosts pinned them back at times, but the quality difference showed.
Portsmouth dominated possession at 54 per cent and launched 116 attacks, yet created only one big chance from 2.17 expected goals. QPR managed fewer attacks—78—but converted theirs more efficiently, with 2.07 expected goals and three big chances. Six shots on target each, though accuracy favoured the visitors at 46 per cent to 35 per cent.
Boy Kemper came off for QPR in the twentieth minute, a surprising move that suggested tactical adjustment rather than injury. Luke Brooke-Smith replaced someone for Portsmouth at the break, while the visitors made two changes in the fifty-eighth minute. Abu Kamara came on for the hosts in the sixty-fifth, and two more substitutions followed for Portsmouth in the seventy-second.
The result leaves QPR in third place with ten points after five games—three wins, one draw, one defeat. Portsmouth sit fourteenth with six points from two victories and three losses. The visitors have been on a good run, and this victory keeps them in that rhythm.