Queens Park Rangers vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance17,831.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City at Loftus Road on Saturday | New Hoops signing Michael Frey scores first goal to earn important point
Saturday 10 February 2024 19:36, UK
New signing Michael Frey rescued a point for struggling QPR and put a dent in Norwich's play-off aspirations in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Loftus Road.
Second-half goals from Kenny McLean and Josh Sargent looked to have sealed the points for the visitors after Jack Colback put Rangers in front midway through the first half.
But Frey diverted a cross from fellow new boy Lucas Andersen past keeper Angus Gunn to extend QPR's unbeaten run to four matches.
QPR started the better side, with Joe Hodge shooting just wide from distance, while Chris Willock should have done better when he fired straight at Gunn from inside the six-yard box.
Borja Sainz saw a shot flash just past the post for Norwich's best chance before Colback opened the scoring in the 28th minute.
Gunn palmed Willock's right-wing cross only as far as Colback and the midfielder fired in his third goal of the season.
Norwich came racing out of the traps after half-time and levelled in the 48th minute when McLean escaped his marker to tap in a short corner past the leaden-footed Asmir Begovic.
Canaries boss David Wagner introduced the exciting Jonathan Rowe from the bench in the 59th minute and he made an immediate impact by setting up the move that led to Norwich's second goal.
Rowe picked out Jack Stacey on the right flank after a good run from midfield and the full-back swung in a perfect cross to find Sargent who rose above the Rangers defence to head past Begovic and give the visitors a 62nd-minute lead.
The goal stunned the sell-out home crowd and it was Norwich who looked the more likely to win the game, with Ashley Barnes and Onel Hernandez shooting wide.
But it was the introduction of new arrivals Frey and Andersen from the bench by head coach Marti Cifuentes that got Rangers back on level terms in the 77th minute.
Picking the ball up on the right flank from a throw-in, Denmark international Andersen, who only joined the club on Monday, rolled a smart pass into the box and Frey held off Ben Gibson to divert the ball past Gunn.
Norwich pushed hard for a winner and Begovic made a vital stop with his body to deny Barnes as he bore down on goal.
The point was not enough to see Rangers climb out the bottom three but it closed the gap on Huddersfield, the team immediately above the drop zone, to two points.
Norwich slipped to eighth in the table - two points outside the play-off positions.
QPR's Marti Cifuentes:
"I can never be happy with just a point, but we played against a strong team that scored two quality goals.
"We managed to have good moments, both in the first half and the second, and I want to praise the attitude and the mentality of the guys.
"It's not easy to be behind at home in the situation that we are in. But we had the mental strength and capacity to keep on pushing - and after the equaliser from Frey we still tried to go for the victory."
Norwich's David Wagner:
"Performance-wise, OK. Intensity and energy, top. Result, a little bit frustrating. But I think it's a positive if we are frustrated at getting a point away from home against QPR in a game where we have come back from one down.
"Unfortunately we didn't score the third one where Barnsey had a great opportunity. Then we conceded a sloppy goal, which cost us.
"Our biggest challenge today was not to get too emotional and to stay calm. I think when we did that we looked very good in possession and were able to break them down and create opportunities.
"So I'm a little bit frustrated that we haven't won this game, because it was possible. We should be fair also and say that performance-wise this was OK.
"Unfortunately it's only a point. I think it's OK if there's a little bit of frustration about only getting the point after being 1-0 down at half-time away from home.
"We should look at the performance as well. You only have positive results if you perform consistently and this is what the players have done in recent weeks."
