Aston Villa suffered a second straight defeat under Dean Smith as QPR moved to within one point of the Championship play-off places with a 1-0 win at Loftus Road.

Having won his first game in charge, Smith saw his side beaten 2-1 by Norwich City on Tuesday, and despite dominating proceedings for much of Friday's encounter, Villa left empty handed thanks to Pawel Wszolek's first-half goal.

Wszolek almost fluffed the chance to open his Championship account for the season, but fortunately for QPR, his 38th-minute toe-poke deflected in off the bar – goal-line technology confirming the ball had crossed the line.

QPR's winner came after a promising start from Villa, in which both John McGinn and Jack Grealish had gone close, the latter hitting the woodwork from a free-kick.

The hosts wanted a penalty when James Chester eased Wszolek off the ball, while tempers threatened to boil over at half-time after Jonathan Kodjia had kicked the ball at Toni Leistner.

Tammy Abraham squandered a great chance for Villa early in the second half and, despite a late onslaught from the visitors, QPR held firm to secure a third successive win.