Kyle Bartley's header earned West Bromwich Albion a second win on the bounce under Carlos Corberan as they beat QPR 1-0 at Loftus Road this afternoon.  

The centre-back rose highest to head home John Swift's free-kick and take the lead against the run of play with 22 minutes left on the clock – with the Baggies able to protect their lead and claim just a fourth Championship victory of the season.

QPR came into the game searching for a fourth consecutive home win but it was Albion that had all the chances in the opening exchanges.

Rob Dickie's scuffed clearance saw Seny Dieng forced into the first save of the match as he parried a low strike into the path of Brady Diangana but the Baggies winger, who had an open goal to aim at, couldn't adjust his body in time and put his close-range volley wide.

Matt Phillips led the line for the visitors and the movement of their front four, which also included Diangana, Jed Wallace, and John Swift, caused early issues for the R's – with Beale shifting to a midfield diamond inside 15 minutes to add some more control.

That change in shape did help the home side claw back some control and after half chances for Tim Iroegbunam and Lyndon Dykes, the latter forced Alex Palmer into his first meaningful save after 30 minutes as he tipped wide a bouncing effort from the edge of the box.

The R's continued to turn the screw either side of the break – with Iroegbunam and Ilias Chair seeing more and more of the ball as West Brom were forced into some backs-to-the-wall defending.

But Beale's side were not able to capitalise and found themselves trailing after 68 minutes thanks to Bartley.

Albion won a free-kick in a rare foray forward and John Swift whipped in a dangerous ball that the defender met with a powerful header to score the only goal of the game.

The Baggies looked more assured after taking the lead while some sloppiness crept in for the home side as they looked to play with more urgency with the final whistle edging closer.

Chair came closest to levelling it for the R's with three minutes left of the 90 but after weaving his way into the box, his low shot bounced just wide of the far post.

Not quite smash and grab but Beale's side can feel unfortunate to have come away with nothing and drop to fifth while the visitors will head back to the West Midlands in high spirits.

They remain in the bottom three due to results elsewhere but there can be no denying that there are clear signs of positive progress under Corberan.

FULL TIME: QPR 0-1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION