Austin, QPR double up on Villa

London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - QPR claimed its second victory of the season on Monday thanks to a goal in each half from Charlie Austin, lifting the club to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Loftus Road.

QPR moves off the bottom of the table with the result and to within two points of safety, while Villa suffered its fifth loss in nine games.

It took QPR 17 minutes to get the scoring started as a long ball from the back was knocked down by the chest of Bobby Zamora, teeing up Austin for a splendid first-time finish from 20 yards.

Junior Hoilett came off the bench in the second half and nearly scored four minutes after stepping onto the field as he dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and curled a shot off the right post.

But two minutes later, Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan was picking the ball out of his net for a second time as Eduardo Vargas got down the right wing and drove a low ball into the area that Austin redirected inside the near post from seven yards.

Villa called QPR goalkeeper Robert Green into action in the final 10 minutes when he kept out a shot from Tom Cleverley and then saved the rebound attempt from Ciaran Clark to preserve the clean sheet.