Austin left feeling a right Charlie after penalty miss
JOEY BARTON said that ‘on paper’ QPR are the worst side in the Premier League. Life on the turf is not proving much easier.
This was their big chance, a home fixture against a side that has made an almighty mess of what could have been an excellent season.
But for all QPR’s huffing and puffing, they lacked the quality needed to win important matches. You also need some luck and they did not have that either.
When they won a penalty in the first half, Charlie Austin, fluffed it badly. Credit to Adrian for making the save, but the shot was very poor.
When Richard Dunne ‘scored’ in the second half, referee Mike Jones ruled out the effort for a fairly tame challenge from Steven Caulker. No fortune and no hope.
With back-to-back fixtures at Liverpool and Manchester City, it is hard to see where the revival will come from.
It was against that bleak backdrop that manager Chris Ramsey was so incensed by the disallowed goal, saying: ‘No way that was a foul. I am trying not to get into having a go at referees but now I understand why managers do it. You are fighting for your life. Livelihoods are on the table.’
Ramsey can take credit for how QPR fight. But he believes his side need nine points from four games. Considering they have won twice in 17 games, that is a huge ask.
Ramsey said: ‘We need three wins. Two might just do it but we need to take these two next games as finals.’
For West Ham boss Sam Allardyce there was frustration, too. With each passing week he has lost strength in his negotiating position with the board, so one can imagine the irritation he felt as his side missed a series of late chances.
He said: ‘After a clean sheet and saving the penalty, we should have finished them off. We had seven opportunities to do so. We needed to capitalise on a mistake.’
Consolation came from the penalty save, which led Allardyce to describe Adrian, a free transfer from Real Betis, as one of the best goalkeepers around.
He added: ‘Three penalty saves on the trot now — he is an outstanding find. One of the best in the Premier League. He spreads fear because they know he has saved three on the trot. They will be more nervous.’
Yet there was little to get excited about. It all started so brightly, with Sandro getting a sight of goal within a minute and forcing Adrian to save with his feet.
Reece Burke, an 18year-old making his debut in place of Winston Reid, then had a header cleared off the line by Nedum Onuoha. For the next 20 minutes nothing much happened until Austin’s penalty, awarded when Bobby Zamora’s chip came back off James Collins’s hand. Austin has scored or assisted 55 per cent of QPR’s goals but the penalty was poor.
‘He is devastated,’ Ramsey said.
There was little threat at the other end, barring an Aaron Cresswell free-kick which hit the bar, via the tips of Rob Green’s fingers.
But late on, West Ham applied pressure and Cheikhou Kouyate missed the best of their chances with a shot that sailed over. Allardyce looked away, QPR lived to fight another day.