Football
2017-18 English League Championship, Regular Season
QPR 
2
FT
 BRE
2
PA Sport 6y

Stoppage-time heroics earn QPR point against Brentford

QPR scored twice in stoppage time to snatch a point from a 2-2 draw with Brentford in a west London derby thriller.

The Bees looked home and hosed as they led by two Lasse Vibe goals with 92-and-a-half minutes on the clock.

But substitute Matt Smith headed what looked like a consolation, and Luke Freeman bundled in the unlikeliest of equalisers a minute later.

The fightback was all the more remarkable as Rangers manager Ian Holloway was forced to make do and mend with a defence shorn of six specialist centre-halves through injury.

His patched-up side rattled the frame of the goal as they chased an equaliser and were also denied what appeared to be a clear penalty.

But just as Rangers stood on the brink of a fourth straight defeat they completed a stunning turnaround.

Brentford, looking to complete a Loftus Road double having thumped their rivals 4-1 in the Carabao Cup in August, immediately set about trying to expose the makeshift backline.

Winger Sergi Canos almost opened the scoring in spectacular fashion, playing a neat one-two with Vibe and hitting a curler which was destined for the top corner until Rangers keeper Alex Smithies intervened at full stretch.

After the break Rangers were inches from taking the lead when a half-cleared corner was headed back into the area by Josh Scowen.

Idrissa Sylla nodded the ball on only to see it crash back off the crossbar with Bees keeper Daniel Bentley beaten.

Instead Vibe opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, controlling a Nico Yennaris cross with his midriff and swivelling to bury his shot past Smithies.

Shortly after Smith's shot clearly hit the outstretched arm of defender John Egan in the area but referee Steve Martin waved away the appeals for a penalty to the clear frustration of Holloway.

Nine minutes from time Vibe grabbed his second, turning in a cut-back from Romaine Sawyers to seemingly clinch the points in front of an ecstatic away end.

But Smith had other ideas and headed in Freeman's cross to halve the deficit, before the latter applied the finish to Jake Bidwell's free-kick to somehow snatch a point.

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