Pierce Charles penalty save denies West Ham top spot in QPR draw

West Ham missed the opportunity to lead the Championship after a 1-1 home draw with Queens Park Rangers on Friday, October 9. Pierce Charles saved a late penalty to prevent the hosts completing their comeback, according to bet365 News’ match report. The result left West Ham with one point rather than the three needed to move above Swansea City.

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Nicolas Madsen put QPR ahead from the penalty spot in the 18th minute at London Stadium. Jarrod Bowen brought West Ham level in the 70th minute, but the home side could not add a second goal. Both teams therefore resumed their league campaigns after the international break without recording a victory.

The late penalty offered West Ham a chance to turn that equaliser into a winning comeback. Charles kept it out, and the score remained level at the final whistle. The Guardian also reported that Charles pushed Arne Engels’ rebound onto the crossbar. QPR left with their fifth draw in nine league matches.

West Ham’s own pre-match information placed them second after eight games, with four wins, three draws and one defeat. They had finished that opening stretch with a 2-2 draw at Millwall and six successive league games unbeaten. Friday’s result extended that unbeaten sequence to seven, but took their points total only to 16, one fewer than Swansea’s existing tally.

The evening also marked Tomas Soucek’s return to West Ham’s starting side. The club confirmed that the midfielder had recovered from the ankle ligament injury sustained while playing for Czechia against Mexico at the World Cup on June 25. He replaced Joel Piroe in the starting line-up and joined Arne Engels and Divine Mukasa in midfield.

QPR had arrived sixth, having lost only once in their opening eight league matches. The clubs’ previous meeting had brought a different outcome: West Ham won their January FA Cup third-round tie 2-1 after extra time. Taty Castellanos scored the decisive goal on that occasion, but this time the visitors came away from London Stadium unbeaten.