Comedian Jimmy Carr enjoyed a night out at the football yesterday as Crystal Palace beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 in the third round of the League Cup.
The 8 Out of 10 Cats presenter was in the 13,945 crowd at Loftus Road in West London and sat in the front row of the Summix Capital Lounge hospitality area.
The 52-year-old wore a smart suit and appeared to be having a great time – laughing, smiling and joking with a group of friends in the front row of the VIP section.
Carr is known to be friends with QPR co-owner Amit Bhatia, although it is not clear who invited him or whether he supports either team involved in last night’s game.
He took his seat just after kick-off at 7.45pm, then returned to the indoor hospitality area at half-time – before remerging about ten minutes into the second half.
Carr then left around 9.30pm shortly before the end of the match, which saw Eagles star Eberechi Eze score and provide an assist on his return to former club QPR.
Comedian Jimmy Carr watches Queens Park Rangers v Crystal Palace at Loftus Road last night
Jimmy Carr sits in the front row of the Summix Capital Lounge hospitality area last night
Jimmy Carr is known to be friends with QPR co-owner Amit Bhatia (pictured together in 2014)
Jimmy Carr had a view of last night’s QPR v Crystal Palace match similar to the one pictured
Eze, who joined Palace from their Championship hosts for £17million in 2020, tormented his boyhood club in an impressive individual display in West London.
The midfielder set up Eddie Nketiah for his first Palace goal before his fortunate second-half effort took a deflection and cancelled out Sam Field’s equaliser.
Other faces in the Summix Capital Lounge area included Palace chairman Steve Parish who was sat alongside club legend Mark Bright who is a patron of the Palace For Life Foundation.
The lounge area is described by the club as ‘QPR’s premium hospitality suite, combining prestige fine dining and wines in an exclusive environment’. Spaces cost from £438 per person for normal league games.
It is not known whether Carr paid for his ticket or was invited as a guest.
He is currently on his ‘Jimmy Carr Laughs Funny’ tour and is set to next appear at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa tonight – before heading to Scunthorpe, Skegness and Harrogate over the next few days.
As for the match itself, QPR enjoyed an opening spell of possession against their Premier League opponents but a mistake from Harrison Ashby almost saw them concede an early goal.
The right-back initially showed great skill to nutmeg his opposite number in a tight space, but he held onto the ball too long and a turnover saw Tyrick Mitchell’s ball across the box blazed over the bar by Eze.
0-1: Crystal Palace’s Eddie Nketiah celebrates scoring to give his side the lead against QPR
1-1: QPR player Sam Field (centre) celebrates scoring his side’s equaliser in last night’s match
1-2: Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze scores his side’s winning goal in yesterday’s game
Palace’s patience in defence soon paid dividends as they forced the mistake which gave them a 16th-minute lead.
Palace pressed high, winning the ball in a promising area and winning a free-kick which Eze took quickly, catching QPR napping as he unleashed Nketiah down the right.
The £30million signing from Arsenal produced a powerful finish from a tight angle which found a way through keeper Joe Walsh’s legs.
Nketiah was Palace’s brightest spark with freedom to roam on either side and he was at the heart of another move which nearly made it 2-0.
The forward combined with Eze once more, this time on the left, and a drilled attempt from a similar angle as before was tipped by Walsh into the path of the surging Daniel Munoz, who was denied his first Palace goal after his attempt from six yards trickled into the keeper’s hands.
After the break, Rangers came out inspired and quickly drew level. Ashby’s cross was met the head of Paul Smyth, with Dean Henderson making an acrobatic stop, but Palace and Henderson failed to deal with the subsequent corner.
Loftus Road is pictured yesterday ahead of the League Cup third round match in West London. The area where Jimmy Carr was sitting can be seen to the far left of this photograph
The keeper punched the ball high into the air and Rangers won a couple of headers before Field smashed the ball home from close range.
But a magnificent solo run from Eze, who spent four years at Loftus Road between 2016 and 2020, resulted in Palace retaking their earlier lead.
The England international’s flick in midfield saw him breeze past his marker, allowing him to drive towards the box.
His strike, which would have been routine for Walsh to deal with, took a hefty deflection off captain Steve Cook and found the net.
The 26-year-old refused to celebrate in front of the Rangers faithful as QPR failed to convert their late chances in a tie which ended in favour of Oliver Glasner’s men.
Palace manager Oliver Glasner said after the game: ‘Who’s a better player than Eze? For me he’s absolutely top, if he was luckier this season he would have five or six goals.
A merchandise stand outside Loftus Road before the League Cup third round match last night
‘He’s always dangerous because he has the quality and ability at 1-1, he’s such an unbelievable finisher, in some situations he can improve, he’s a guy who can always score and he’s someone who everyone likes. This is why he’s on the pitch because he’s able to score goals.’
QPR manager Marti Cifuentes was proud of his side’s efforts despite the defeat, saying: ‘We’re here to win matches and today we didn’t.
‘We have a feeling their first goal had a big part on the development of the game, it’s a goal we can’t concede and we needed to be better than we did.
‘The feeling was despite the slow start, we can put pressure and challenge a Premier League side. I’m proud of the guys, it showed they’re ready to contribute and fight for this club.’