Queens Park Rangers 3-4 Birmingham City: Blues hold off thrilling Rangers comeback
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Steve McClaren saw his QPR side fall 4-0 behind after just 42 minutes
QPR head coach Steve McClaren said his side showed their "two faces" as they almost completed an incredible second-half comeback from 4-0 down against Birmingham City.
Nahki Wells missed a glorious chance to make it 4-4 in stoppage time when Lee Camp saved his penalty in a pulsating game at Loftus Road.
Blues were four goals to the good after 42 minutes, thanks to a Che Adams hat-trick and Harlee Dean's effort.
QPR striker Matt Smith scored either side of half-time and Jordan Cousins reduced the deficit to 4-3 before an astonishing conclusion.
"We've got mixed emotions," McClaren told BBC Radio London. "The first half was very poor and we didn't dominate their front two or the midfield.
"In the second half, we got the ball wide and got crosses into the box and put pressure on. Matt Smith was magnificent all afternoon and we almost came away with a point.
"We're disappointed, but that is the two faces of QPR. I've told the players we need to see the second-half face a lot more."
The defeat was QPR's fourth in a row in the Championship and their sixth without a win as they slumped to 15th.
"The goal just before half-time gave us a lifeline," McClaren added. "I said 'I'm not happy with this, you've got to win the second half and keep a clean sheet'.
"I can't fault them as they did that and the bonus would have been 4-4 and a point. It wasn't to be and that's football.
"The biggest thing is the reaction. What an effort from the players and we can take it on to the rest of the games this season."
Che Adams celebrates scoring his third goal of the game, which made it 4-0 to Birmingham
Two goals in five first-half minutes put City 2-0 up as Adams found the far corner with his right foot, then added a second from a Jota through ball.
Jota provided a second assist, this time with a cross following a corner which found the head of defender Harlee Dean to score his first of the season.
Adams tapped home his third - his 19th goal of the season - from a Jota shot which hit the post, but striker Smith gave Rangers slim hope before the break by heading home from a Luke Freeman corner in first-half stoppage time.
Boyhood Blues fan Smith's second, a left-footed shot, made it 4-2 and substitute Cousins smashed his shot into the top corner to put QPR within one goal of parity.
Smith almost matched Adams' hat-trick with a volley in the 66th minute, but Camp did well to tip his effort over the bar.
Adams' hat-trick means he has scored in six successive league games, the first Blues player to do so since Paul Devlin in 1997.
The club record is held by Trevor Francis, who found the net in seven consecutive league matches in 1978.
Garry Monk's side continued their excellent away form, having lost just once in seven matches on the road, to end a bad run that had seen them lose four times on their previous five visits to Loftus Road.
Birmingham City manager Garry Monk told BBC WM 95.6:
"What a game. It's hard to know what to make of it. To be four goals up and playing the way we were playing was fantastic.
"But the changing point was the goal for them just before half-time. Momentum can change very, very quickly in football and it gave them the little bit of belief that they needed.
"They threw everything at it and it was two teams of real characters on show. They had nothing to lose and we had to put bodies on the line and it was a great save from Lee for the penalty.
"It's hard to sum it up, but I guess it was a game of two halves. The most important thing for us was to come away with three points and back-to-back wins."