LONDON, February 1, 2012 (AFP) - Djibril Cisse marked his return to English football by scoring on his Queens Park Rangers debut in a 2-2 Premier League draw away to Aston Villa on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old French striker, thrust into the side a day after completing a transfer deadline day move from Italian side Lazio on Tuesday worth a reported four million euros, took just 12 minutes to justify QPR manager Mark Hughes's faith with a sensational strike.
Cisse, who had previous spells in England with Liverpool and Sunderland, latched onto a loose ball and struck a fierce shot past Shay Given before celebrating with a somersault.
Rangers went 2-0 up when Villa defender Stephen Warnock headed a cross from Taye Taiwo into his own net in the 29th minute when under no pressure at all.
But Villa pulled one back on the stroke of half-time when striker Darren Bent turned in an Alan Hutton cross at the near post.
And the resurgent hosts equalised 11 minutes from time when Charles N'Zogbia volleyed in a Stiliyan Petrov cross.
However, the draw saw QPR inch further away from the relegation zone with the London club now three points above the bottom three.
Wednesday's other top flight matches, which all kicked-off at 2000GMT, saw Bolton playing Arsenal, Blackburn taking on Newcastle, Fulham facing West Brom and Sunderland and Norwich meeting at the Stadium of Light.
0 comments:
Please add comment to express your opinion, and share it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you in advance.