QPR gained a vital point in their battle to beat the drop coming from behind to draw against Swansea who maintained their fine record Liberty Stadium.
Jamie Mackie was the R’s hero pouncing on Leon Britton’s mistake to equalise just before the hour after Danny Graham had put the home side ahead in the first half with a goal tinged with controversy. The draw now gives Neil Warnock’s side a three point advantage over Wigan who occupy the third and final relegation place and a major confidence boost as they head into the second half of the season. Going to the Liberty Stadium and gaining a point is no mean feat with Manchester United the only team to beat the Swans on home turf. Brendan Rodgers will also be delighted with a share of the spoils as it keeps his side five points above the drop zone and still with a chance of making it into the top half.
It was the visitors who began the contest with more purpose though and Swansea were once again grateful to the in-form Michael Vorm for keeping out early headers from Heidar Helguson and Mackie. The hosts struggled to get into their usual passing routine but found themselves ahead just before the quarter hour with Graham appearing to control Wayne Routledges cross with his hand before turning and lashing the ball home for his sixth goal of the campaign. The away bench erupted as Warnock frantically appealed for handball to no avail as referee Lee Probert failed to bat an eyelid towards the protests. Graham was denied a second goal soon after with Clint Hill doing brilliantly to block his effort from Scott Sinclair’s centre. The game was fast developing into an end-to-end affair with Vorm once again called into action to acrobatically tip Joey Barton’s strike away from goal after the hosts failed to deal with Adel Taarabt’s free kick. Helguson then squandered two opportunities in quick succession before Taarabt sliced a volley wide.
The second half saw a minor drop in the tempo as Swansea desperately searched for the killer goal with Routledge toe poking past the post after good work from Joe Allen to create space for the winger. It proved to be crucial as Mackie levelled on 58 minutes latching onto the ball following Britton’s attempted header back to his goalkeeper went horribly wrong allowing the QPR striker to brush off a challenge from Ashley Williams and cooly finish beyond Vorm. The Scotland striker was then denied by Vorm who once again proved to be the Swans’ last line of defence. Graham then thought he’d won a penalty following a could from Armand Traore but referee Probert failed to point to the spot as the away side went close to finding a winner late on. It was Vorm again who came out on top tipping Taarabt’s strike round the post as Warnocks side ended a run of three defeats on the spin ahead of their trip to Arsenal.
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