REPUBLIC OF IRELAND international Mikey Johnston is gaining a reputation for scoring spectacular goals and he struck another after 25 minutes in West Brom’s draw against QPR.
Sam Field boosted QPR’s Championship survival hopes by scoring a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw against his former club on an emotional and controversial night at Loftus Road.
Field opened the scoring on night where QPR paid tribute to club great Stan Bowles, who died last month.
Promotion-chasing West Brom quickly turned the game around with two goals in three minutes from Mikey Johnston and Grady Diangana.
QPR missed one penalty before they were denied another when Cedric Kipre appeared to use his hand to stop the ball going into the net.
But Field levelled with nine minutes left to earn the hosts a draw which moved them a point clear of the bottom three.
Loftus Road held a minute’s applause for Bowles before kick-off and there was a mosaic in his honour in the stand named after him, while members of his family attended along with team-mates from the 1975-76 side who were pipped to the league title by Liverpool.
The hosts went ahead after 17 minutes. Alex Palmer spilled Ilias Chair’s shot from the edge of the box and Michael Frey went down under the goalkeeper’s challenge looking for a penalty, before Lucas Andersen retrieved the loose ball and squared it for Field to score from close range.
Rangers seemed to be in control but the tide suddenly turned, with Johnston continuing his fine form since his loan move from Celtic.
He cut in from the left, past Jimmy Dunne and Paul Smyth, and sent a cracking strike beyond goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and in off the near post.
What a strike from Mikey Johnston! 🔥
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 6, 2024
Game ON. pic.twitter.com/p2mPwaXkQj
Diangana, who like Johnston scored in a 2-1 win over Coventry on Friday, then put the visitors ahead two minutes later.
Tom Fellows did superbly on the right and picked out Diangana, who took a touch to ease himself away from Andersen and then fired past Begovic.
Early in the second half, Rangers missed a penalty and should have been awarded another.
After Adam Reach blocked Andersen’s right-wing cross with his elbow, the resulting spot-kick by Frey was saved by Palmer.
A couple of minutes later, Field’s header from Dunne’s cross initially appeared to have been superbly tipped over by Palmer or cleared off the line by Kipre. Replays showed that Kipre used his hand to prevent a goal – an offence which would almost certainly have resulted in a red card as well as a penalty had it been spotted.
But Rangers went on to find their equaliser. After Chris Willock’s cross was headed back across goal by Steve Cook, Dunne headed against the bar and Field followed up to nod home.
And there was more late drama when centre-back Cook’s overhead kick was cleared off the line by ex-QPR man Darnell Furlong.
Elsewhere in the Championship tonight, Ryan Porteous cancelled out Ryan Andrews’ unlucky own goal as Watford came from behind to share a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea.
The point enabled the mid-table Championship rivals to move further away from a relegation dogfight, although it also ended a two-match winning streak for the Swans.
Middlesbrough earned their first Sky Bet Championship win at the Riverside Stadium since December by beating 10-man Norwich 3-1.
The Canaries started the game on top and took the lead through Ashley Barnes, but the evening quickly took a turn when Borja Sainz was sent off in the 30th minute. Boro levelled through Marcus Forss and Emmanuel Latte Lath put them ahead just before half-time.
Lukas Engel added a third in the second half to wrap up victory as Norwich missed the chance to move into the play-off places.
Cardiff claimed a third successive Championship win by beating Huddersfield 1-0 at home.
Famara Diedhiou’s first goal in English football since a brace for Bristol City at Middlesbrough in February 2021 moved Cardiff to within seven points of the play-off places.
The on-loan Senegal striker converted Josh Bowler’s cross on the half-hour mark to put his name on a Championship scoresheet again after spells in Turkey and Spain.
Championship Results
QPR 2-2 West Brom
Watford 1-1 Swansea
Middlesbrough 3-1 Norwich City
Cardiff City 1-0 Huddersfield
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