A chaotic, frustrating, entertaining and bizarre match at Loftus Road ended 2-2 as QPR and Manchester City fought to a standstill.
Manchester City were hoping to keep pace with Chelsea after their win at Anfield earlier today, and a visit to lowly Queens Park Rangers seemed to present a good opportunity to do just that. Things didn't start off so well for the defending champions, though what should have been a disastrous start for City was avoided thanks to the application of a bizarre and questionable rule.
Charlie Austin had an early goal ruled out for offside, but it looked like he had QPR out in front anyway just seconds later when Joe Hart sent his free kick straight at him and he struck home easily while City's defenders were too shocked to respond. The assistant referee on the touchline was waving his flag, though, and it was for one of the most bizarre decisions you'll run in to.
You see, Hart took a slight touch of the ball before actually kicking it. There's an obscure part of the free kick rules that says that if a goalkeeper takes a free kick from the penalty area, and his first touch doesn't leave said penalty area, the free kick is re-taken. So because of that oh-so-slight touch that moved the ball all of three inches, Austin's goal didn't count. Joe Hart's incompetence saved him from -- well, his own incompetence. How quaint.
It took some time and a long spell of dominating play from QPR, but the home side and Charlie Austin finally got a goal. In the 21st minute, Austin latched on to a perfect through ball from Edu Vargas and blasted it home, using a subtle shoulder dip to keep Hart off-balance. He had timed his run through perfectly, and stayed onside by the barest of margins thanks to Martin Demichelis being a beat slow to step up with the rest of City's defense.
The lead wouldn't last long, though City's equalizer wasn't without even more controversy. Eliaquim Mangala lofted a gorgeous long ball over the top that Sergio Aguero brought down and fired home past Robert Green, but Aguero was a step offside and brought the ball down with his hand. Neither infraction was noticed by the referees, though, and the goal stood despite fierce protestations by QPR players.
Frustration started to set in for the home side after that, with a number of rash fouls cropping up as a result. Richard Dunne and Mauricio Isla were both booked for hard and unnecessary fouls, and Bobby Zamora was lucky to avoid seeing red after shoving Bacary Sagna in to the ad hoardings with the ball out of play.
The second half got off to an entertainingly frenetic start, with Joey Barton giving QPR a vital injection of energy going forward. Both teams came perilously close to scoring several times in the opening spell of the half, with miscues and offsides keeping things knotted up. QPR were arguably the brighter side again, but City were able to cause plenty of problems on the counter.
As more and more rain started to fall, though, the match slowly ground down as both sides tried to be patient and find their moment rather than force the issue. That moment very nearly came for QPR at the hour mark when Barton sprung Zamora with a gorgeous pass in to the box, but a desperation slide from Fernando Reges knocked the ball away from Zamora's run just before the striker could tap it in at the far post.
Manchester City tried to push for a winner by putting on Edin Dezko for Fernandinho in order to push QPR's back line. That experiment lasted all of two minutes before it looked like Dzeko might have re-injured the thigh that kept him out a spell recently, and a minute later he was taken back off in favor of Frank Lampard.
City was left scrambling a bit, with James Milner coming on for a flagging Samir Nasri to try and tighten up their shape. While City were working out the changes to their formation, though, QPR struck, racing down the pitch and pushing at goal. With a dangerous cross coming in for Zamora's head, Martin Demichelis panicked and put his own head on the ball -- and straight into the back of his own net.
City weren't done just yet, though. With less than 10 minutes to play, Yaya Toure fired a ball in to the box that Aguero was able to control. His first shot was parried away, but there was no stopping him as he latched on to the rebound, threading a perfect shot through to bring the match level once more.
Both sides tried desperately to score a third goal to take all the points, with Manchester City getting the better opportunities. Nothing ever quite came off right for either side, and this match ended as one of the craziest start-to-finish draws you'll ever see.
Queens Park Rangers: Green; Isla, Caulker, Dunne, Yun; Vargas, Henry, Sandro (Barton 46'), Fer; Austin, Zamora
Goals: Austin (21'), Demichelis (O.G. 76')
Manchester City: Hart; Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Clichy; Fernando, Fernandinho (Dzeko 64', [Lampard 67']), Toure, Nasri (Milner 73'), Aguero, Navas
Goals: Aguero (32', 83')
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