Pierce Charles double save denies Jarrod Bowen as West Ham held 1-1 by QPR

Charles the hero as Hammers stumble on return from break

West Ham United missed the chance to climb to the top of the Sky Bet Championship after being held to a 1-1 draw by Queens Park Rangers at the London Stadium on Friday night, with QPR goalkeeper Pierce Charles producing a stunning stoppage-time double save to deny Jarrod Bowen and Arne Engels.

West Ham and QPR players in action during the Championship clash at the London Stadium

Controversial opener leaves Hammers behind

Nuno Espirito Santo's side had thumped Wrexham 6-0 in their last home game, but they were nowhere near that level in a sedate first half in which they mustered just two shots with a combined xG value of 0.07. They found themselves behind after only 18 minutes when Tomas Soucek slid in on Paul Smyth as the QPR livewire looked to break into the box. The Czech midfielder got the ball, but referee Ruebyn Ricardo pointed to the spot, and Nicolas Madsen coolly rolled the ball into the bottom corner.

Soucek's reaction was one of sheer disbelief. "That's definitely not a penalty. No way on Earth. This is an absolute howler," said Lee Hendrie on co-commentary. Speaking at half-time, studio guest Rob Green added: "The referee didn't let the situation breathe. He didn't give himself a moment to think: 'hold on a minute, what's actually happened here?' He just saw the ball move, the player move, the player fall over and gave the penalty."

Replays showed the challenge was well outside the area and that Soucek won the ball, but with no VAR technology in the Championship the decision stood to the dismay of the majority inside the London Stadium. The West Ham assistant coach Rui Pedro Silva was booked for his complaints, as was Engels for stamping on the penalty spot.

Pierce Charles makes a save during QPR's Championship draw at West Ham

Bowen levels after a frustrating evening

Just as he had done at Millwall last time out with his side 2-0 down, Nuno made a double substitution at half-time, sending on Pablo Felipe and Edvin Austbø for Soucek and Kyle Walker-Peters. Bowen, well marshalled by Rangers left-back Boy Kemper, had been enduring a frustrating evening until he burst into life in the 70th minute. The England international won the ball back with a crunching tackle on Ronnie Edwards, earning himself a bloody nose in the process.

Pablo played the ball back to Bowen, who darted away from substitute Tariq Lamptey, hit one shot that was blocked, then made no mistake with the second for his seventh goal of the season. Mads Hermansen had earlier kept the Hammers in the game with a fine save from recalled QPR striker Rayan Kolli, while Konstantinos Mavropanos made a crucial recovery tackle to deny Smyth after the Greek defender had been beaten.

Charles the hero in stoppage time

With 90 minutes on the clock, Amadou Mbengue tugged the shirt of Pablo in the penalty area and Bowen had the chance to win it from the spot. But Charles — who kept four clean sheets and saved a penalty for Northern Ireland over the international break — dived low to his left to keep out the initial effort, then reacted in a flash to tip Engels' follow-up onto the crossbar.

Charles, who had also flung out a hand to push a scuffed Bowen effort past a post moments earlier, took the plaudits with two brilliant quickfire saves to preserve the point that sees QPR climb to fifth in the Championship on their return from the extended international break.