Sam Field boosted QPR’s Championship survival hopes by scoring a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw against his former club West Brom on an emotional and controversial night at Loftus Road.
Field opened the scoring on night where QPR paid tribute to club great Stan Bowles, who died last month.
Promotion-chasing West Brom quickly turned the game around with two goals in three minutes from Mikey Johnston and Grady Diangana.
QPR missed one penalty before they were denied another when Cedric Kipre appeared to use his hand to stop the ball going into the net.
But Field levelled with nine minutes left to earn the hosts a draw which moved them a point clear of the bottom three.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
West Brom defender Cedric Kipre made an incredible ‘save’ as he handled on the line following a header from QPR’s Sam Field but the match officials failed to spot it
Loftus Road held a minute’s applause for Bowles before kick-off and there was a mosaic in his honour in the stand named after him, while members of his family attended along with team-mates from the 1975-76 side who were pipped to the league title by Liverpool.
The hosts went ahead after 17 minutes. Alex Palmer spilled Ilias Chair’s shot from the edge of the box and Michael Frey went down under the goalkeeper’s challenge looking for a penalty, before Lucas Andersen retrieved the loose ball and squared it for Field to score from close range.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
West Brom’s Mikey Johnston produces yet another screamer for the Baggies as his unstoppable strike levels things up against QPR
Rangers seemed to be in control but the tide suddenly turned, with Johnston continuing his fine form since his loan move from Celtic.
Johnston is gaining a reputation for scoring spectacular goals and he struck another after 25 minutes to haul Albion level.
He cut in from the left, past Jimmy Dunne and Paul Smyth, and sent a cracking strike beyond goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and in off the near post.
Diangana, who like Johnston scored in a 2-1 win over Coventry on Friday, then put the visitors ahead two minutes later.
Tom Fellows did superbly on the right and picked out Diangana, who took a touch to ease himself away from Andersen and then fired past Begovic.
Early in the second half, Rangers missed a penalty and should have been awarded another.
After Adam Reach blocked Andersen’s right-wing cross with his elbow, the resulting spot-kick by Frey was saved by Palmer.
A couple of minutes later, Field’s header from Dunne’s cross initially appeared to have been superbly tipped over by Palmer or cleared off the line by Kipre. Replays showed that Kipre used his hand to prevent a goal – an offence which would almost certainly have resulted in a red card as well as a penalty had it been spotted.
But Rangers went on to find their equaliser. After Chris Willock’s cross was headed back across goal by Steve Cook, Dunne headed against the bar and Field followed up to nod home.
And there was more late drama when centre-back Cook’s overhead kick was cleared off the line by ex-QPR man Darnell Furlong.
The managers
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes:
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes was left frustrated after the referee failed to spot Cedric Kipre’s handball as they drew 2-2 with West Brom
“Football is about achieving, not deserving. We played for long minutes at a high level, and that encourages me. Especially second half, it’s the best half since I’ve been manager here – a fantastic level.
“We’re playing as a good team. Perhaps we were too passive after conceding, they punished us, but in total I think we played a very good game. This group has been showing they really want to achieve the target.
“I saw that they [West Brom] were playing with two goalkeepers for a second, yes. We had chances enough to win the game. We cannot control [refereeing] decisions. If today we have to play against two ‘keepers then we have to make sure are better.”
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan:
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan reflects on his side’s 2-2 draw with QPR and believes if his team won the game it would have been an unfair reflection following QPR’s second-half domination
“The point is the best thing we can get from the game. The competitive level of the game was very high. We are a very offensive team.
“I haven’t watched any of the situations of the game – I have not even watched the penalty back. Hopefully the referee has reached the right decision.
“In general they [QPR] were creating a lot of chances and we need to review why. I don’t want to concede chances – we suffered too much. In the end, us winning would have been unfair.”
