Ivan Klasnic scored a later winner as Bolton gave their survival hopes a massive shot in the arm with a controversial 2-1 success over QPR.
Owen Coyle's men leave it late in relegation six-pointer
Bolton Wanderers gave their hopes of avoiding the drop a massive shot in the arm with a controversial 2-1 success over relegation rivals QPR at the Reebok Stadium.
Ivan Klasnic slotted home the winner in the 86th minute after Djibril Cisse cancelled out Darren Pratley's opener minutes after half-time.
QPR were creating the better of the chances and minutes after Bobby Zamora's shot crashed off the crossbar the visitors were desperately unlucky not to open the scoring.
Clint Hill connected with Joey Barton's corner at the near post and, although the whole of the ball appeared to cross the line before Adam Bogdan clawed it to safety, the officials were unsighted.
The visitors suffered a double whammy before half-time when instead of being in front they fell behind when Pratley powered home a header in the middle after a well-worked move.
QPR's luck changed on 48 minutes as the offside flag stayed down against Cisse from Shaun Wright-Phillips' through-ball and he dinked the ball home past Bogdan with a first-time effort.
Although it was Mark Hughes' side who looked like finding a late winner the visitors conceded a sucker punch when Ryo Miyaichi picked out Klasnic who slotted home past Paddy Kenny with aplomb.
Purpose
This was a must-win game for Owen Coyle's Bolton and they began with purpose but the final ball was lacking in quality.
The only time they really threatened a goal in the early stages was in the 14th minute when David Wheater got his head to Miyaichi's corner but Bobby Zamora cleared off the line.
QPR had hardly been in the Bolton half but a quick break ended with Wright-Phillips setting up Barton, and the hosts were relieved to see the ball fly wide of the post off Sam Ricketts.
Suddenly the visitors were looking dangerous and Zamora cracked a volley from a tight angle against Bogdan's bar, and they should have been ahead in the 19th minute when Hill met a Barton corner four yards out.
The ball was well over the line before Bogdan pushed it against the bar and out, but referee Martin Atkinson waved play on to the disbelief of the Rangers players.
It was a huge decision in a huge game, although perhaps the end result was right given replays showed it should not have been a corner in the first place as the ball went out off Cisse.
The Football Association subsequently issued a statement reiterating its "strong desire to see goal-line technology introduced as soon as possible".
Bolton regained a measure of control and Ngog wanted a penalty when he tumbled under pressure from Anton Ferdinand but there did not appear to be much contact.
Celebrating
However, the Trotters were celebrating in the 37th minute when defender Tim Ream produced a perfect cross for an unmarked Pratley to head in his second goal for the club and first in the Premier League.
Wright-Phillips had the chance to level matters almost immediately but curled a shot high and wide before Nedum Onuoha's effort was blocked by the impressive Bogdan.
It took QPR only three minutes of the second half to level, and again there were question marks as Cisse had all the time in the world to collect Wright-Phillips' deflected pass and poke the ball past Bogdan for his second Rangers goal.
Bolton's defence were appealing vociferously for offside, and it did look like the striker may have been marginally ahead of Wheater when the ball was played.
Cisse then forced Bogdan into another save, although his weak shot did not really test the Hungarian, while at the other end Ricketts curled a shot just over the bar.
Akos Buzsaky and Jamie Mackie came on for Rangers with fans' favourite Klasnic entering the fray for Bolton, and Mackie was straight into the action but the home goal stayed intact thanks to some heroic defending.
The visitors looked the more likely winners but with four minutes left Miyaichi played in Klasnic and he slotted his shot past Kenny to secure three vital points.
| Bolton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Queens Park Rangers |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
8 |
| 10 |
Corners |
6 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73.6 |
Passing Success |
70 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 58.8 |
Tackles Success |
69.2 |
| 53.2 |
Possession |
46.8 |
| 55.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.6 |
| 349 |
Total Passes |
313 |
| 36 |
Total Crosses |
25 |
| 199 |
Lost Balls |
189 |
| 40 |
Recoveries |
51 |
| 53.8 |
1st Half Poss. |
46.2 |
| 51.6 |
2nd Half Poss. |
48.4 |
|
