Team: Smithies, Perch, Hall, Onuoha, Robinson (El Khayati), Henry, Wszolek (Shodipo), Cousins, Washington (Sylla), Chery, Polter
Subs Not Used: Ingram, Hamalainen, Lynch, Gladwin
Attendance: 20,043 (including 1,190 R’s fans)
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink gone, after a decent performance, in a game where we could of taken all three points.
An excellent turnout from the travelling faithful, who sensed victory in the dying minutes of a second-half that we totally dominated, but it wasn’t to be.
Shame we saw a first-half with players under-performing, unable to cope with the pressure at this level, and a half that was peppered with unforced errors.
For me it was inevitable that JFH would have to go sooner or later. His performances in the past have finally caught up with him, his brand of football emptying Loftus Road.
It will be interesting to see just who comes in. With proper handling, organising, setting-up, this side is not that far away.
Some promising performances with Alex Smithies saving the day once again, but too many were just not at it.
I’ve lost patience with the BFG…consistent in his failings. Conor Washington continues to make the wrong decisions and Chery just cannot find any consistency.
Enjoyed the trip with Steve, great craic as always…till the next time
Jimmy Murray
Substitute Idrissa Sylla snatched a late draw for QPR at Nottingham Forest as both sides ended with ten men.
Britt Assombalonga put the hosts ahead by coolly rounding Alex Smithies after midfielder Karl Henry had been sent off for two early bookings.
Hildeberto Pereira’s third red card of the season – also after two yellows – gave Rangers fresh hope. And with time running out, Sylla stole in to head home a left-wing cross from fellow replacement Nasser El Khayati.
Forest showed the greater attacking intent in the early stages and Assombalonga had the ball in the net, only to be ruled offside. But the recalled striker found the net from a tight angle just four minutes later following a through ball from Pajtim Kasami.
Forest were made to pay for not pressing home their advantage early in the second-half as Pereira pulled back his man to receive his second caution.
His departure was the spark for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s men to push forward as Olamide Shodipo fired over and Grant Hall headed just wide before Sylla’s late effort denied Forest only a second victory in 11 attempts – and a first clean sheet in 14 games. QPR have still never won at the City Ground in 33 attempts.
There are now only three longer unbeaten home runs in all competitions in English football history than Forest’s in this fixture – Liverpool v West Ham (44), Liverpool v Spurs (43) and Liverpool v Stoke (36).
Nottingham Forest manager Philippe Montanier: “I’m frustrated and a little angry. I like my players and I always defend them, but when we lead 1-0 and it’s 11 against 10 you have to make sure you don’t give your opponents a chance.”
“We didn’t control the game very well in that situation, making a lot of technical mistakes and conceding a lot of free kicks and corners.”
“This is the first time I’ve been angry since I’ve been here and hopefully it’s the last time. We had to continue like we were playing in the first-half and we didn’t do that in the second.”
“I think we’ve given a point to Queen’s Park Rangers, and it’s a game we should have won. We just had to keep the ball and find a solution to score the second goal and close out the game.”
QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Because of the manner we played, we deserved to get a goal. That is why I was celebrating. That was my emotion at the time.”
“We have some young players we are trying to develop. We have foreign players we are trying to bed into the team. They will get better. All these things take time.”
“It was a harsh sending off, because the first booking was not a yellow card. I do not want to talk too much about the referee, I do not want to concentrate on that.”
BBC Sport
Apart from the goal, Alex Smithies made a great save with his body after Nedum Onuoha had failed to deal with a long clearance. Have to say that Forest were the better side before the break.
Karl Henry received his first booking after 11 minutes, and then got his marching orders after a second yellow on 34 minutes.
Shodipo did well when he came on and after 85 minutes, Nasser El Khayati put a great ball into the box for our equaliser, which was followed by some wild celebrations.
Although we had dominated the second-half, and a winner looked on the cards, there were a couple of nervous moments, including a big shout for a penalty, during the 7 minutes of added time.
I found Seb Polter’s performance generally disappointing and it was another inconsistent display from Tjaronn Chery. However, Jordan Cousins had a good game in central-midfield.
When I got home, news was filtering through that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had been shown the door. Although we could well have won the game, Forest were a poor side, low on confidence and as for JFH, too many negative performances had stacked up behind him.
Good turnout and many thanks to Jimmy for the lift.
Steve Russell