Queens Park Rangers vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance15,268.
Wednesday 16 December 2015 09:31, UK
QPR came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Brighton at Loftus Road on Tuesday thanks to a Charlie Austin double.
Brighton struck twice in three second-half minutes to go ahead, Dale Stephens turning home an acrobatic overhead kick in the 53rd minute before an optimistic Rajiv van La Parra strike caught out Robert Green shortly after.
Fit-again Austin pulled one back on 65 minutes, before Albion defender Lewis Dunk saw red after receiving a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Alejandro Faurlin with six minutes to play.
QPR made their one-man advantage count four minutes later, Austin rising highest from a corner to head past David Stockdale, and the home side had a chance to win it deep into seven minutes of added time, but Matt Phillips' low drive clipped the outside of the post.
The draw maintains Brighton's unbeaten start to the season but they drop to second on goal difference after Middlesbrough's 1-0 win over Burnley. QPR move into the top half of the table, and sit six points of a playoff position in 12th place.
Rangers, in their second match under new manager Hasselbaink, dominated the first half but were two down within 10 minutes of the restart.
After Dunk climbed above Gabriele Angella at the far post to head Van La Parra's 52nd-minute corner back towards the six-yard box, Stephens nudged Sandro out of the way and showed great improvisation to hook the ball past Rob Green.
Rangers protested that Sandro had been fouled and worse followed for them three minutes later, when goalkeeper Green was unable to react quickly enough when Van La Parra's 35-yard shot took a deflection off Grant Hall, allowing the ball to squirm past him and into the net.
QPR hit back on 65 minutes, with their first goal under Hasselbaink. Phillips delivered a low cross and Austin, in the starting line-up for the first time in more than a month following a calf injury, pounced on the loose ball following Gordon Greer's challenge on him and smashed home.
And Austin's equaliser salvaged a deserved point for Rangers, who in the first half were denied by Inigo Calderon's goal-line clearance.
Austin's 21st-minute cross towards Leroy Fer ran for Phillips and the Rangers winger's shot beat goalkeeper David Stockdale, but Calderon rescued Albion.
Three minutes later, the R's appealed in vain for a spot-kick when Austin combined nicely with Fer and saw his shot blocked by Greer's stray arm.
Earlier, Austin, who has been nursing a calf problem, had a low effort from near the edge of the box saved by Stockdale, who also tipped over a thunderous drive from Phillips.
Rangers were then forced into a defensive change when James Perch was helped off on the quarter-hour mark after falling awkwardly as he landed following an aerial challenge on Jamie Murphy.
Hasselbaink moved Nedum Onuoha to right-back and sent on Aneglla, and his team continued to press, with Hall heading Faurlin's corner over shortly before Phillips so nearly opened the scoring.
In the end it was Stephens who broke the deadlock, and a second goal soon afterwards seemed to have put the game out of QPR's reach.
They battled on, though, and Austin had a header and a low shot saved by Stockdale before eventually reducing the deficit.
Fer and Rangers substitute Sebastian Polter headed wide before Dunk's dismissal, but Austin made no mistake when another chance came his way
