Sheffield Wednesday 1 v 2 Queens Park Rangers: Owls defeated in injury-time and three penalties awarded in crazy second half

Sheffield Wednesday ended their Championship season with an injury-time loss to Queens Park Rangers in which three penalties were awarded.
Sheffield Wednesday v Queens Park Rangers.Sheffield Wednesday v Queens Park Rangers.
Sheffield Wednesday v Queens Park Rangers.

QPR striker Matt Smith volleyed the winner in injury-time to snatch all three points at Hillsborough.

That came after a crazy second half in which the Owls missed and scored a penalty and Keiren Westwood saved a spot-kick from Eberechi Eze.

Josh Scowen gave QPR the lead after half an hour.

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Owls striker Fernando Forestieri missed the chance to level the score when he blazed a penalty over the bar early in the second half.

The visitors then missed a penalty of their own when Westwood denied Eze.

Incredibly, a third penalty was then awarded and defender Michael Hector slotted it past Joe Lumley.

But then Smith struck the winner deep into stoppage time.

The loss means Wednesday finish the Championship season in 12th position.

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Bruce made four changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Preston North End last weekend.

Midfielder Kieran Lee made his first start since December 2017 due to long-term injuries.

Westwood, Morgan Fox and Lucas Joao also came in.

Cameron Dawson, the suspended Dominic Iorfa, Bannan and Josh Onomah dropped out.

Bannan was one yellow card away from a three-match ban which would have carried over to next season so he was not involved.

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Before kick-off a short ceremony was held to mark the coronation of Thailand King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

In the opening stages Owls stopper Westwood went down injured after appearing to be clattered in the air by QPR striker Matt Smith. The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper looked to be holding his shoulder and received treatment before continuing.

Wednesday created their first chance of the match after nine minutes.

Steven Fletcher flicked on a long kick by Westwood into the path of Marco Matias. The winger found Lee inside the box but his effort was blocked and went behind for a corner.

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After a quarter of an hour Bruce's men had their next opportunity.

Joey Pelupessy played a lofted pass over the top of the away defence and Matias broke the offside trap. The lively forward was one-on-one with QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley but he chose to square the ball and the danger was cleared.

Wednesday continued to get in behind the away defence and this time it was Fletcher with the opportunity.

Striker Lucas Joao got free down the right and squared the ball for what looked like a simple chance for Fletcher to give Wednesday the lead. But Hoops defender Daniel Furlong got back and managed to get a slight touch on the ball just as Fletcher was about to strike.

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And unfortunately for Wednesday they paid the price soon after when the visitors took the lead against the run of play just before the half hour mark.

QPR's Scowen found far too much space in the box and had time to control the ball and stroke it past Westwood following a low cross from the right.

The home side almost equalised immediately when Morgan Fox thundered a cross at Lumley. The QPR stopper parried the ball into the path of Matias but his header looped over the bar.

QPR continued to look dangerous on the counter attack and went in at the break in front.

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Wednesday had plenty of possession at the start of the second half but without creating a clear chance.

But it was QPR who almost doubled their lead.

Michael Hector gave the ball away and the visitors pounced. Osayi-Samuel was played in on goal but the Owls stopper raced out and got a block in.

Then came the drama of three penalties.

First, Forestieri was adjudged to have been pulled down in the box by referee Andy Davies and a spot kick was awarded.

The QPR players were not happy and protested against the decision.

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After a long delay, the Wednesday forward blazed the ball over the ball and missed the chance to draw the Owls level.

Just after the hour mark, Lee was replaced by Sam Hutchinson and Joao came off for Atdhe Nuhui.

Westwood then came to Wednesday's rescue once again with an excellent block to stop QPR striker Smith from getting on the score-sheet.

The away side continued to look dangerous on the break before Bruce introduced Gary Hooper for Fletcher.

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The visitors were then awarded a penalty of their own when Tom Lees brought down Osayi-Samuel in the area.

But Westwood kept Wednesday in it by tipping Eze's penalty onto the post.

Substitute Hutchinson limped off for the Owls meaning Buce's men played the last 10 minutes with 10 men as they had made all their changes.

Quite remarkably, the third penalty of the game was then awarded when Matias was tripped in the box.

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Surprisingly, defender Michael Hector stepped up and slotted it home to make it 1-1.

But yet there was more drama as QPR striker Smith struck home a late volley in injury-time from inside the box to snatch the three points.

SWFC: Westwood, Palmer, Lees, Hector, Fox; Matias, Lee (Hutchinson), Pelupessy, Forestieri; Fletcher (Hooper), Joao (Nuhiu). Subs: Dawson, Thorniley, Penney, Hutchinson, Hooper, Nuhiu, Winnall.

QPR: Lumley, Furlong, Cameron, Leistner, Manning, Eze, Scowen, Luongo, Shodipo, Osayi-Samuel, Smith.

Subs: Ingram, Bidwell, Hall, Freeman, Bansal-Mcnulty, Walker and Wells.