Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Brentford: Charlie Austin earns dramatic win over Bees
- Published
Substitute Sam Field's equaliser came 16 minutes into his QPR debut
Charlie Austin grabbed the winner as QPR scored twice in four second-half minutes to earn a dramatic comeback victory over promotion-chasing Brentford at Loftus Road.
Austin's deflected strike brought Rangers a fifth win in six Championship matches after substitute Sam Field had pulled the hosts level with a fierce first-time shot on his debut.
Brentford, who have now lost consecutive league fixtures following a 21-game unbeaten run, were the better side until the final quarter and deservedly led at the break thanks to Ivan Toney's 24th league goal of the season.
The late turnaround sees the Bees slip four points behind leaders Norwich City, but they remain in second place despite the west London derby defeat at the hands of former manager Mark Warburton.
Hopes of Warburton's side avoiding a fifth successive loss to their near neighbours seemed to be fading with the visitors having dominated the first half and still looking relatively comfortable with 20 minutes left to play.
Toney's goal arrived when Mathias Jensen whipped in a free-kick from the left and he got a touch to nudge the ball home at the near post.
The striker almost added a second with a deflected free-kick that went just over before home keeper Seny Dieng pushed away Jensen's long-range shot.
Yoann Barbet did go close on a rare Rangers attack, but Bees keeper David Raya made a smart save with his legs.
And that was as good as it got for the hosts until Field smashed home the equaliser after great work by Todd Kane and Lee Wallace.
With the momentum behind them Field's fellow West Brom loanee Austin struck the winner to take QPR up to 16th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
QPR boss Mark Warburton on the win and Charlie Austin's goal celebrations near Bees boss Thomas Frank: "Thomas and Charlie will shake hands and move on.
"It's a local derby with emotions running high and Charlie's just scored the winner - it's never going to be nicey-nicey. Someone might not agree with the way he conducted himself, but Charlie's a top-class pro and it means a lot.
"In the first half an hour we showed far too much respect to Brentford and they were the better team. They're a good team if you give them time and space.
"We had to respond and be better in the second half, which we certainly were. The players deserve so much credit for that quality of response."
Brentford manager Thomas Frank: "The important message to get out is that if anyone had told us at the beginning of the season that we'd be in this position, with 57 points, I think we would have said 'Yes, we'll take that'.
"I'm aware we can lose the next one every single time because this league is so even.
"I showed only one clip to the players after the Barnsley game, which we lost to a team that was just a tiny bit better than us. The clip I showed was in the 94th minute when we had eight players sprinting back from a corner.
"If you have that mentality, work-rate and togetherness you will be absolutely fine."