Queens Park Rangers vs Sheffield United. Sky Bet Championship.
Loftus Road StadiumAttendance14,151.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between QPR and Sheffield United at Loftus Road as John Egan made up for his earlier error to earn the Blades a last-ditch draw on Monday night.
Tuesday 3 January 2023 06:11, UK
John Egan scored with the last kick of the game to earn Sheffield United a 1-1 draw at QPR in the Sky Bet Championship on Monday night.
Ilias Chair's deflected effort on 11 minutes looked like it was going to be enough for QPR, but Egan - who was largely at fault for the opener - notched in the sixth minute of added time to snatch a point for the Blades.
It was a result that saw the Blades' five-game winning run come to an end, and they now trail five points behind leaders Burnley. More significantly, though, there are nine points between themselves and Blackburn in third.
For QPR it left them languishing 12th in the table, three points off the play-offs.
Reeling from a 3-0 defeat at home by Luton in their final game of 2022, QPR were hoping for a brighter start to the new year. And it came after 11 minutes thanks to a helping hand from Egan.
The Sheffield United defender gave the ball away on the edge of his own area, before then inadvertently deflecting Chair's strike past the helpless Wes Foderingham as he tried to close him down.
The Blades came close a couple of times to finding an equaliser in the second half. On 59 minutes, Billy Sharp raced in one on one with Seny Dieng, but could only loop a lobbed effort onto the roof of the net. Shortly after a swift counter saw Iliman Ndiaye race into the QPR box, but the goalkeeper was out well to deny him.
And eventually the pressure told deep into stoppage-time as Egan popped up in the box to steer home an equaliser, sending the away fans who had made the long trip down to west London into raptures.
QPR's Neil Critchley: "When the scoreline is 1-0 the last 10 or 15 minutes can look like that. All bets are off and they can really go for it.
"I thought we defended fantastically well. The spirit of the players and their endeavour to keep the ball out of the net was brilliant. But sometimes it's just the law of averages. I feel for the players tonight because they deserve a winning feeling at the end of the game."
Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom: "I've not seen it but I bet from the statistics it looked a pretty even game. We were disappointed with the way we've conceded the goal. We gave it away and it's a deflection.
"But I thought we more than deserved that in the end. One of the reasons we got that is because we were brave and we wanted to keep pushing."
Both sides are in FA Cup third-round action next Saturday at 3pm. QPR head to League One side Fleetwood, while Sheffield United visit Millwall.
The two then return to Sky Bet Championship action at 3pm on Saturday, January 14. QPR head to Reading. Sheffield United host Stoke.
