A dominant Southampton put five past QPR at St Mary's to aid their push towards the Championship play-off places.

Finn Azaz gave Saints an early lead as he curled a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the box, they then doubled their lead just before the break when Kuryu Matsuki headed a corner home for his first Championship goal.

The Japanese attacking midfielder then added another, five minutes after half-time, slotting a rebound home to make it three.

Leo Scienza added a fourth just before the hour mark, breaking into space down the left before finishing past QPR keeper Joe Walsh. James Bree then scored a fifth ten minutes later, firing home from outside the box via a slight deflection.

Tonda Eckert's Saints jump up from 11th to seventh in the Championship table, four points off Wrexham, while QPR are 13th.

Both sides had calls for penalties waved away early on by referee Oliver Langford. QPR's Amadou Mbengue went down after getting past Ryan Manning and moments later Taylor Harwood-Bellis appeared to be pulled back in the box by former Saint Ronnie Edwards, but nothing was given for either.

Saints then took the lead as Azaz was found on the edge of the box by Manning and took a touch in-field before curling the ball into the far corner with a low and powerful right-footed shot in the ninth minute.

QPR suffered a blow just before the half-hour mark as Nicolas Madsen sprinted after a cleared corner and pulled up, holding the back of his right leg.

The Danish midfielder was then substituted before heading down the St Mary's tunnel.

Just over five minutes before the break Manning sent a free-kick into the box and found the head of Taylor Harwood-Bellis whose header bounced once before striking the post and rolling away from danger.

Saints then doubled their lead just before the break as Matsuki rose highest to head Scienza's header into the net from close range.

He found the net again shortly after the break as Scienza had a shot saved by QPR keeper Walsh, who palmed the ball straight into Matsuki's path and then steered the ball into the far corner with his left foot.

Scienza added a fourth in the 59th minute, played through by Azaz before breaking into plenty of space down the left.

The winger then cut infield and curled one into the far corner for his sixth Championship goal of the season, Walsh got a glove to the weak effort but was unable to keep it out.

Saints scored a fifth with 20 minutes to go, Scienza won back possession down the left before crossing into the box, a poor QPR clearance then fell to Bree who took a touch before firing a shot into the left-hand side of the net via a slight deflection.

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert speaking to BBC Radio Solent:

"There are many games we could have scored more than one and sometimes that's enough, but today there were some key moments that came our way and we do have some quality players on the pitch.

"These night games are always special at St Mary's. It's a quick pitch and we needed to make sure that we are really sharp and we were right from the beginning, the first goal was because of that.

"I'm very big on confidence and I believe every player needs to back themselves, he [Matsuki] has got his head down and worked hard despite not playing very minutes and today is a consequence of that.

"We're still not where we want to be, we have to keep our heads down, be humble and keep working, we need to turn this into a really good month when we have our game Saturday."

QPR boss Julien Stephan speaking to BBC Radio London:

"We knew that after the third one it was very difficult to come back and we conceded the fourth one quickly.

"It was a repeat [situation] but its just a question of how we can manage the situation in order to prepare the next one (game) and how we can give some playing time for some players, how we can give some rest for other ones.

"I would have liked to change one or two players more but it was not possible so now for me, the main thing is to switch quickly, to reset quickly, and to think about the next one and see how we are able to react, and I'm sure that these players are able to react."