Queens Park Rangers 1 West Ham United 2: match report West Ham's first away win of the Premier League season was an ultimately nervy affair. Victory lifted Sam Allardyce's side to seventh. There was also the welcome return after a month out of Andy Carroll, who was being watched by Roy Hodgson. Carroll almost scored, unleashing a magnificent drive that Julio Cesar saved. Talking before kick-off, Hughes had lamented "lapses of concentration at key moments" and his defence duly dozed off again. QPR were missing Anton Ferdinand, Jose Bosingwa, Kieron Dyer, Armand Traore and Fabio through injury but nothing could really forgive the hapless nature of their first-half defending. Cesar was hardly a beacon of defiance in goal either. A penny for the thoughts of Rob Green. Hughes's back line was all at sea when Kevin Nolan and the excellent Vaz Te combined down the right after three minutes. Nolan lifted the ball rather inelegantly to the far post where the unmarked Jarvis scored with a cushioned header past Cesar. QPR's keeper looked surprised to find an opponent in his area. The lack of significant resistance was alarming for the home fans to behold, contributing to the brief flurry of boos at the break. QPR tried to claw their way back into the game. Esteban Granero sought to bring his technical expertise to bear, sending Shaun Wright-Phillips down the right only to fire the return over. Then QPR went route one, Bobby Zamora flicking Cesar's long ball through but it was too far ahead of Cissé, allowing Jaaskelainen to sprint out and clear. Allardyce had to rejig his defence when Winston Reid departed after being briefly knocked out by Jaaskelainen as a Rangers free-kick curled in. Reid, who walked off looking a forlorn, groggy figure, was soon talking in the dressing room. James Tomkins came on, shortly followed by George McCartney as Joey O'Brien hobbled off. Tomkins made an immediate impact, seizing on a clearance after a 35th-minute goalmouth scramble. He lifted it to the far post where Vaz Te, reacting quicker than Stephane Mbia, swept it left-footed back past Cesar. Mbia should have got closer to Vaz Te but Cesar's response was anaemic at best. West Ham could have inflicted more first-half damage but Carlton Cole headed Vaz Te's cross over. Cissé kept showing for the ball, bringing a save from Jaaskelainen. The half closed with Wright-Phillips's cross being met by Zamora, whose header floated well over. "Oh Bobby Zamora, we've seen that before,"" chanted his former West Ham fans. Nolan went close to finding a third goal for the visitors, unleashing two shots goalwards but both were blocked by Ryan Nelsen. The game became pockmarked with a succession of bookings and the sight of Vaz Te rolling on the ground, having encountered Clint Hill. Vaz Te was furious, as were QPR fans at what they perceived to be his play-acting. Eight minutes into the second half, Hughes had seen enough, hooking Wright-Phillips and the anonymous Ji-sung Park, replacing them with Taarabt and Samba Diakite. While Diakite brought some much-needed strength and running from midfield for 19 minutes until sent off, Taarabt immediately lit a firecracker of a goal. Cutting in from the left, he created space brilliantly before driving the ball irresistibly past Jaaskelainen. QPR were looking more solid and fluid in a 4-3-3 system with Taarabt on the left, Cissé through the middle and Zamora right. Cissé guided the ball through to Granero but Jaaskelainen saved. Cole should have eased the pressure, ushered through by Nolan but sending his shot wide. Back came QPR, making a real game of this. Taarabt slid a terrific pass through for Cissé, whose shot was saved by Jaaskelainen. Allarydce set QPR a new problem when sending on Carroll. Their hopes of resisting QPR's resurgence was helped when Diakite deservedly departed for two yellow-card offences. The impetus seemed to drain from the hosts. West Ham went about chasing a third, and only a marvellous save from Cesar denied Vaz Te. QPR had a good chance to equalise but Jaaskelainen pushed away Cissé"s strike. A huge cheer went up when the fourth official signalled there would be six minutes of injury time. West Ham continued to collect yellow cards, eventually numbering eight, and they will be fined. They will not worry.