Harewood the hero for Magpies

Harewood: Saved Magpies

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Championship table-toppers Newcastle avoided a shock defeat as Marlon Harewood scored his first goal for the club to earn a 1-1 draw against QPR.

Ben Watson had given Jim Magilton's side the lead at St James' Park with just seven minutes on the clock and that looked like it could have been enough to stun the Magpies.

However, Harewood, on loan from Aston Villa, rescued his temporary club from defeat when netting an equaliser with 20 minutes remaining to extend their lead at the top of the table to three points.

Danny Guthrie had a first-half penalty saved by Radek Cerny and Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan both went close with headers, but QPR also had their chances in front of a crowd of 38,923.

QPR took the lead with just seven minutes gone when Jose Enrique's poor clearance fell to Watson, who made ground to the edge of the box and fired home with the help of a deflection off Steven Taylor.

Newcastle should have been back on level terms with 19 minutes gone when defender Damion Stewart was penalised for handball in the box as he blocked Taylor's shot.

However, Guthrie's spot-kick was not well hit or placed and Cerny guessed correctly and saved comfortably as he dived to his right.

Opportunity

Guthrie passed up another opportunity 13 minutes before the break when, after being played in by Danny Simpson, he shot at Cerny from a tight angle when he perhaps should have squared for Carroll.

At last, the QPR goal was coming under sustained pressure and Gary Borrowdale had to hack a 33rd-minute Carroll header off the line before Nolan directed another effort at the keeper seconds later.

Caretaker boss Chris Hughton replaced skipper Nicky Butt with winger Jonas Gutierrez, back from a hamstring injury, at the break in an effort to inject some pace into his side, but it might have been 2-0 within three minutes of the restart.

Rowan Vine did well to get in a cross from the right after Steve Harper had punched a corner away, and Damion Stewart powered a header just wide of the post.

Newcastle responded in determined fashion, but were almost hit on the break with 59 minutes gone when Vine fired wide of Harper's right post after working his way into a promising position.

Carroll drove a 66th-minute free-kick straight at the keeper as the Magpies pressed once again, and he played a major role in the equaliser four minutes later, heading down Simpson's cross for Harewood to stab home at the far post.

The striker turned a 79th minute Gutierrez cross across the face of goal, but Newcastle had to make do with a point on a frustrating night.