A draw leaves Bristol City fifth and QPR 15th in the Championship
Bristol City missed the chance to solidify their play-off credential, splitting the points with Queens Park Rangers in an end-to-end match at Loftus Road.
Karamoko Dembele's opener was cancelled out by George Earthy's first-half equaliser on a sunny afternoon in west London, with a repeat scoreline of December's draw ensuring City remain fifth in the Championship, four points clear of seventh-placed West Brom.
But with four games remaining the Robins failed to put more ground between themselves and Albion, who beat Watford to go level on points with Middlesbrough and Millwall, whose head-to-head at the Den went the way of the hosts.
A draw means QPR stay 15th, seven points clear of the drop zone and another step closer to securing safety in the second division following their midweek win at Oxford United.
The R's were quickest out of the gates, forcing Robins goalkeeper Max O'Leary into a string of early saves.
Yang Min-hyeok and Harrison Ashby - two of Marti Cifuentes' four tweaks to the hosts' line-up from the previous match - threatened to break the deadlock first before Dembele, another of the Spaniard's changes, snuck through City's backline to nod home from a Nicolas Madsen delivery at the back post.
That one-goal lead was nearly doubled soon after the restart, when a Jimmy Dunne volley whistled wide of the post as QPR piled on the pressure.
But the visitors drew level just nine minutes after falling behind, as a defence-splitting pass from Max Bird put West Ham loanee Earthy one-on-one with goalkeeper Paul Nardi.
The equaliser shifted the momentum at Loftus Road, with the Robins firmly on the front foot for the rest of the half.
Queens Park started brightly again after the interval, as the two sides traded half-chances through the hour mark before a smattering of changes by both managers.
The Robins then dominated the chances in the closing stages but ultimately failed to find a decisive goal.
It means QPR have now lost just one of their past six matches against Bristol City in the Championship (W3, D2), with the hosts now winless in four matches on their own turf.
City, meanwhile, remain unbeaten in their last seven league visits to QPR (W5, D2) and keep hold of fifth place until at least Monday, when Coventry City - currently two points behind them - take on Hull.
Liam Manning's Bristol City have a four-point cushion in the play-off spots with four games to go
'The best we have played at home this season' - reaction
QPR manager Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio London:
"It felt like the first 25 minutes were excellent, perhaps the best we have played this season here at home.
"It was a joy to see the energy of the players, attacking again and again.
[On conceding the equaliser] "It was a bit disappointing as well I think for the guys, emotionally you could see it was not easy after creating this amount of chances in those 25 minutes and then in the first situation [Bristol City] got, they score.
"Overall the first half was very good, the second half they pushed and perhaps we should have been better to create counters and more chances.
"Credit to the players, the fans that stick with us. Now we have these four games left to push and keep getting points."
QPR picked up an important three points at Oxford on Wednesday to snap a seven-game winless run
Bristol City manager Liam Manning told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I thought we were a little bit sloppy the first 15 minutes and let them build quite a bit of momentum. We then got a bit of control and scored a fantastic goal, a moment of real high quality.
"In the second half I thought we had a decent amount of control but probably didn't ask enough questions with it, but it's been a full-on week so to come here, take the points and stay unbeaten in three I think is quite important.
"We've given ourselves something to play for going into the final four [matches], and credit to the lads because they've done that.
"It's the end of the season, there's going to be lots of twists and turns - it's about controlling what we can, turning up and taking confidence from remaining unbeaten."
Liam Manning spoke to BBC Radio Bristol following the draw with QPR
