QPR baffled as West Brom defender's 'Hand of God' goalline save goes unpunished

Queens Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes could only laugh as his side were denied a penalty in remarkable circumstances against West Brom.

Baggies defender Cedric Kipre punched Sam Field’s header over the bar after it had beaten goalkeeper Alex Palmer - yet he escaped punishment from both the referee and linesman.

"I've been told that West Brom played with two keepers for a while," Cifuentes remarked.

"I'm not here to complain. I'm here to make sure my team is better, so if we need to play against two keepers then we need to practice playing against two keepers.

"Football is a game with mistakes and unfortunately refs can make mistakes as well. They have a very difficult job - the second most difficult job, after being a manager.

"On the pitch I thought their keeper made an amazing save - I mean the real keeper. That shows you how difficult the referee's job is. I was shown it afterwards."

A chaotic evening at Loftus Road saw QPR lead through Field early on before Michael Johnston and Grady Diangana put West Brom ahead with a quickfire double.

Palmer then saved Michael Frey’s spot-kick after the break before Kipre was incredibly fortunate to avoid a red card and a penalty for the hosts when he saved a shot on the line moments later. However, the R’s levelled late on through Field to earn a vital point in their fight for Championship survival.

While Cifuentes refused to blame referee Geoff Eltringham, QPR defender Steve Cook labelled the decision “terrible”.

He said: “It was a blatant handball from Kipre - it can’t be missed. It’s a terrible, terrible decision by the referee. We were unfortunate.”

And former QPR winger Jamie Mackie, on pundit duty for Sky Sports, added: “If we’re being totally honest, when we’re seeing it in real time, our reaction was we cannot believe how good a save it was because, from [the main camera] angle, anyone watching it now would say what an amazing save by Palmer.

“We’ve had the benefit of seeing it quite a few times and it turns out it’s an amazing save by Kipre, who has tipped it over the bar. There wasn’t a huge reaction from the QPR players in real time. We assumed it was just a save from Palmer.

“Now I’ve seen it, obviously it’s a blatant handball, it’s 100 per cent a handball. It should be a sending off and another penalty.”