QPR 2 Swindon Town 2 (after extra time)
QPR won 4-2 on penalties
QPR needed penalties to see off League One side Swindon at Loftus Road, where Matt Ingram saved two spot-kicks before Nasser El Khayati converted to take them through to the second round of the EFL Cup.
Ingram pushed Anton Rodgers’ penalty on to the bar and saved from Bradley Barry after the match had ended 2-2 after extra time.
Rangers, who will be at home to Rochdale in the next round, netted all their penalties, with Tjaronn Chery, Sebastian Polter and Conor Washington scoring before El Khayati clinched victory.
French winger Yeni Ngbakoto had scored on his Rangers debut to put them ahead on 58 minutes, but the Robins hit back 14 minutes later with Jordan Stewart’s first senior goal.
Lloyd Jones’ injury after his team had used all three substitutes meant Swindon were forced to play extra time with only 10 men, and QPR appeared to take control when Washington scored his first competitive goal for the club three minutes after the restart.
But Swindon levelled again, this time with a 107th-minute strike from James Brophy, who belted home the loose ball after Bradley Barry’s shot had been parried by Ingram.
Rangers seemed to be on course for a more comfortable win when they opened the scoring early in the second half.
El Khayati sent in a low cross from the left and Washington was unable to get the decisive touch but Ngbakoto, signed from Metz last week, was on hand to score at the far post.
Swindon’s first equaliser came after a ball over the top ricocheted into Stewart’s path, although there was nothing fortuitous about the youngster’s emphatic finish.
Stewart, on as a substitute for only his second first-team appearance for the Robins, steadied himself and directed a glorious volley beyond Ingram and into the corner of the net.
Chery played a key part in restoring the hosts’ lead, skilfully gathering a right-wing cross from fellow substitute Polter and presenting Washington with a simple finish.
January signing Washington, whose only previous QPR goal came in a recent pre-season friendly, gratefully accepted by slotting home from close range.
That looked like taking Rangers through, but once again they were unable to hold on.
Earlier, QPR full-back Darnell Furlong came close to scoring his first senior goal when he headed Ngbakoto’s corner against the bar and soon afterwards saw a header saved – again from a right-wing corner by QPR’s recent signing.
Swindon also created openings in the first half, with Ingram denying Luke Norris on three separate occasions.
Ingram saved from Norris at point-blank range after Jordan Cousins had given the ball away. He then kept out another effort from Norris and then a long-range shot from the busy Swindon midfielder.
And when Norris did get the better of Ingram a minute before half-time, he was denied by James Perch.
Norris got in behind the Rangers defence and rounded Ingram, but he found himself at an awkward angle and Perch was quickly into position to clear his shot off the line.
After Stewart cancelled out Rangers’ opener, and as Swindon threatened in the final minutes of normal time, Ingram denied Norris yet again, this time by pushing away his firmly-struck free-kick.
Barry also gave Rangers a scare late in normal time when he blasted over after racing into space on the right.
A man short and clearly tiring, Swindon looked beaten when Washington made it 2-1.
They responded again, and Conor Thomas and Stewart then managed to score in the shoot-out, but Ingram’s saves proved decisive.
This post was last modified on 11/08/2016