Jarrod Bowen saw his 91st-minute penalty saved as West Ham missed the chance to move top of the Sky Bet Championship after a 1-1 draw with QPR. Nicolas Madsen put Rangers 1-0 up, rolling home a penalty awarded in highly controversial circumstances. But the Hammers came alive as the conclusion approached, with Bowen slamming in his seventh goal of the season to equalise after his first shot was blocked.
In the 90th minute, Amadou Mbengue tugged the shirt of Pablo in the penalty area and Bowen had the chance to win it from the spot. But Pierce Charles dived low to his left to keep out the initial effort, then reacted in a flash to tip Arne Engels' follow-up over the bar. Nuno Espirito Santo's side thumped Wrexham 6-0 in their last home game, but found themselves nowhere near that level in the first half.
The display was sedate - they had two shots, with a total xG value of 0.07 - and they found themselves behind after only 18 minutes. Tomas Soucek - making his first appearance of the season after recovering from an ankle injury sustained at the World Cup - slid in on Paul Smyth as the QPR livewire looked to break into the box. The Czech midfielder got the ball - but referee Ruebyn Ricardo saw otherwise and pointed to the spot.
Soucek's reaction was one of sheer disbelief. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "That's definitely not a penalty. This is an absolute howler," said Lee Hendrie on co-commentary.
Speaking at half-time, studio guest Rob Green added: "The referee didn't let the situation breathe. He didn't give himself a moment to think: 'hold on a minute, what's actually happened here?' "He just saw the ball move, the player move, the player fall over and gave the penalty." Madsen coolly tucked away the penalty - and until the 70th minute that was all that separated the sides. But West Ham came alive and were level when Bowen darted away from substitute Tariq Lamptey, hit one shot that was blocked, then made no mistake with the second.
The captain was denied another by a sharp Charles save, but with 90 minutes on the clock, Mbengue's overzealous tug was spotted by the officials and Bowen had the chance to be the hero once again. Instead it was Charles who took the plaudits with two brilliant quickfire saves to preserve the point that sees QPR climb to fifth. Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m!
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