QPR sink Watford as Argyle dig out last-gasp leveller to deny Bristol City
QPR continued their march up the Championship table under Martí Cifuentes as Michael Frey announced his return to the side after injury with a goal in a 3-1 win over Watford at Loftus Road.
The former Schalke and Fenerbahce forward had been out since mid-October with a calf injury but made an emphatic comeback on his first start in more than two months with a goal to give his side the lead after only five minutes.
After a poor start to the season QPR have now lost just one of their last 10 to pull comfortably clear of the relegation places, and they increased their lead against playoff-chasing Watford when Jimmy Dunne took advantage of non-existent marking to head a second before half-time.
Kwadwo Baah struck to briefly restore the visitors’ prospects early in the second half, but less than 60 seconds later Cifuentes’ side picked them off again, Sam Field nodding in Paul Smyth’s cross to seal a deserved victory in west London.
Plymouth Argyle rescued a 2-2 draw against west country rivals Bristol City in their first game since Wayne Rooney’s departure as Julio Pleguezuelo scored a stoppage-time equaliser. The Spanish defender acrobatically fired home after Adam Randell’s free-kick dropped off Zak Vyner into the six-yard box. City twice led, through Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight, before being pegged back by Rami Al Hajj, with his first goal for the Greens, and then Pleguezuelo.
First-team coach Kevin Nancekivell replaced Rooney – who left the club by mutual consent on New Year’s Eve – on the touchline as Argyle kicked off 2025 managerless and in incessant rain at Home Park. One notable absentee in the home line-up was central defender Lewis Gibson, while injured Argyle skipper Joe Edwards, a former Bristol City player, was assisting Nancekivell from the home dugout.
The visitors took a 32nd-minute lead through Mehmeti after two passes carved open Argyle’s defence. Max Bird’s through ball from the halfway line to Nahki Wells on the edge of the area was passed sideways to Mehmeti, cutting out keeper Conor Hazard and leaving the City striker with an open goal to tap in to.
Argyle levelled after 50 minutes when Morgan Whittaker’s deep cross from the right was guided in at the far post between Max O’Leary and the upright by midfielder Al Hajj. A few minutes later Randell whipped a free-kick from the right across the face of goal as Argyle sensed an upset.
Those thoughts quickly evaporated as Twine cleverly put in the advancing Knight down the right and the Bristol City skipper cleverly lifted the ball over Hazard and into the far corner as he cut inside. But Pleguezuelo rescued just a second point from their last eight matches in stoppage time.
Championship leaders Leeds are hosting Blackburn in the 3pm GMT kick-offs, when third-placed Burnley entertain Stoke, while Sunderland are at home to Sheffield United in the evening kick-off.
This roundup will update later on New Year’s Day