Queens Park Rangers vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance11,488.
Tuesday 6 March 2018 22:59, UK
Massimo Luongo's late header rescued a Sky Bet Championship point for QPR in a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road and extended Derby's winless run to six matches.
Andreas Weimann's goal seven minutes before half-time looked like getting the Rams' faltering promotion challenge back on track - but they switched off with three minutes to go, enabling Luongo to nod home Luke Freeman's left-wing free-kick.
Weimann's goal was brilliantly set up by Kasey Palmer. The on-loan Chelsea youngster turned away from Josh Scowen and went past Luongo before threading the ball through to Weimann, who fired past goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
QPR, who deserved at least a point, had been on top and went close to taking the lead when Matt Smith hit the post after six minutes.
After Nedum Onuoha appeared near the edge of the Derby penalty area, Luongo's attempt to control the Rangers captain's pass nudged the ball towards Smith, whose rising left-footed strike bounced back off the woodwork.
Onuoha then missed a glorious chance when he blasted over after Derby were unable to clear Darnell Furlong's throw-in.
Smith also went close from a Furlong cross, Freeman shot wide after making space for himself in the box, and Scowen clipped a free-kick over the bar.
At the other end, David Nugent sent a first-time effort wide of the near post after being picked out by Weimann, but Derby barely threatened before taking the lead.
Lifted by their goal, they would have doubled their lead 10 minutes into the second half had Smithies not clawed away Curtis Davies' header from Weimann's left-wing cross.
Rangers boss Ian Holloway made two changes to his starting line-up and switched from a 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 formation, with Furlong and Conor Washington coming in for Joel Lynch and Pawel Wszolek.
However, striker Washington was totally ineffective - and failed to challenge Palmer in the build-up to Derby's goal. He was replaced on the hour mark by Ebere Eze.
Eze, on the other hand, was lively as Rangers pushed for an equaliser. Eze had a low shot saved by Scott Carson, who also kept out a volley from Freeman and reacted quickly enough to prevent Onuoha getting to the loose ball.
When Smith headed wide from Wszolek's late cross, QPR were staring at a sixth defeat in eight games. But when Luongo was inexplicably left unchallenged, the Australian made no mistake, to the delight of the majority of the Loftus Road crowd.
And Rangers would have snatched a victory in added time had substitute Lynch been as clinical. The centre-back, sent on as a makeshift striker, shot straight at Carson after being put through by Freeman.
Ian Holloway: "We've got that sprinkling of stardust that QPR fans like, and they're young at the minute. They've got to come through, believe in themselves and impose themselves and I think Smythy did that.
"Ebere looked like he could do that as well and he's got to do that more and more because he can make the difference. We've got the last quarter of the season left and I've got some wonderfully talented young lads. They've got to learn the game."
Gary Rowett: "We looked a little bit nervous. We looked like the situation is just getting to us a tiny bit. But we got to a point where we could win the game and once again we don't do our jobs properly. Again it's a sickening blow but it's one that unfortunately we've just got to take on our chin and go again.
"You know against QPR they are going to put balls into your box at the likes of Matt Smith and I thought we dealt with that pretty well. We defended really well and looked like we were seeing the game out. It looked like we'd weathered everything we needed to weather. But unfortunately, in this game, if you switch off for a second, make a silly error and don't pick someone up, that's what happens."
