Aston Villa 2-2 QPR: Darren Bent and Charles N'Zogbia save point for hosts after bouncing back from two-goal deficit

Posted Thursday, February 02, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Aston Villa and QPR both played their part in what transpired to be a hugely entertaining 2-2 draw at Villa Park on Tuesday.

QPR raced into a two-goal lead in the first half after a Djibril Cisse strike and a Stephen Warnock own goal put Mark Hughes's side in the lead. But Villa fought back courtesy of a Darren Bent effort just before halftime and a Charles N'Zogbia volley late into the second half.

QPR was able to hand first-team debuts to January acquisitions Taye Taiwo, Nedum Onuoha and Djibril Cisse, with Rob Hulse and Shaun Derry also brought into the starting XI. Aston Villa restored Charles N'Zogbia to the lineup in place of Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Aston Villa began the game as the more positive side, with Alan Hutton delivering an exquisite ball in from the right hand touchline, but the QPR backline was able to scramble it away with Bent lurking in close quarters.

QPR began to come into the match more and more, though, with Djibril Cisse on occasion stretching the Villa defense on the break.

And it was Cisse who broke the deadlock in the 11th minute, latching onto Shaun Wright-Phillips' deflected shot from the edge of the area to lash home a first-time finish from 12 yards out on the right-hand side of the box on his debut.

A nice combination from loan signing Robbie Keane and Bent saw the England striker, chasing his 100th Premier League goal, find the hands of Paddy Kenny from the edge of the area.

With the game beginning to open up as Villa chased an immediate response, Cisse again found himself free at the back post from a Joey Barton cross, but his volleyed effort was comfortably held by Shay Given.

By the quarter of an hour mark, QPR was firmly on top, with Cisse once again instrumental in providing the spark behind a promising move.

Spinning off a straightforward ball into feet, Cisse raced ahead of a trailing Richard Dunne, standing up a decent cross from the right hands side, only to find Shaun Wright-Phillips, the smallest player on the pitch, on the end of it as it sailed just over his head.

Villa managed to regroup, but far too often their build-up play seemed labored and lacked the requisite tempo to break down Mark Hughes's organized side.

QPR managed to make them pay, albeit somewhat fortuitously, by deservedly stretching the lead in the 28th minute courtesy of a Stephen Warnock own goal.

With the ball sprayed out wide to Taiwo surging down the left, his deep cross seemed to lack any threat, but after Richard Dunne missed his header on the stretch, the ball bounced off Warnock and past a despairing Given to give QPR a 2-0 lead.

A shell-shocked Villa was urged to up the tempo by a frustrated home support, and it responded by almost getting itself back into the match.

Richard Dunne's goal-bound header from an Ireland corner forced Paddy Kenny into action, parrying the effort in a crowded goalmouth as Keane failed to connect with a swivel shot.

Keane then struck the bar from the edge with a deflected effort as Villa began to zip the ball around with a bit more purpose, while QPR began to drop deeper and deeper.

Villa then had two penalty appeals turned down in the space of one move - firstly as Darren Bent's through ball struck Jamie Mackie on the hand. Then from the resulting Warnock cross, with the ball once again striking Mackie on the arm, but the referee remained unmoved by either incident.

Alan Hutton's surging runs down the right were beginning to cause debutante Taiwo problems, and a swinging cross from the Scot found Bent, whose header went narrowly wide.

It was Hutton's delivery that proved crucial in granting Villa a foothold back into the game just moments before halftime, when his precise cross in the 44th minute from the right-hand side of the box found Bent to sweep home from six yards out for his 100th Premier League goal, after a flowing Villa move.

The second half began much in the same way as the first half finished, with Villa firmly in the ascendancy, with Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov's deflected strike kept out by Kenny's legs.

McLeish's side then had its third and perhaps best penalty appeal of the match turned down after Ciaran Clark's effort in the box caught Shaun Derry flush on the arm, with referee Neil Swarbrick once again waving play on.

QPR's new-look defense was certainly being put to the test, with Villa pouring forward in numbers and looking dangerous every time they approached its opponents goal.

Around the hour mark, Stephen Ireland threaded through Keane, but the Irishman's effort was well saved by Kenny diving low to his left. Taye Taiwo displayed his attacking credentials even further moments later, forcing Given into a smart stop with a vicious swerving effort from the left-hand flank.

With the game being played at breakneck speed, QPR then contrived to miss a huge chance, with Jamie Mackie failing to make contact from Wright-Phillips superb low cross, just four yards out from goal with the goal gaping.

With the game hanging completely in the balance, Bent then fired wide after some more good work from Alan Hutton down the right hand side.

With the tempo beginning to quieten down for the first time in the half, Villa then managed to equalise in the 78th minute, with N'Zogbia striking a sumptuous left-footed volley from inside the box, getting on the end of Petrov's excellently stood up center.

Villa then nearly completed an unlikely comeback just five minutes later, after Bent's effort from the corner was cleared off the line, with the Villa players once again protesting that the ball had hit a QPR player's arm.

N'Zogbia again went close with a stinging drive from the edge of the area which was turned behind by Kenny, as QPR began to look more and more exhausted by Villa's pacy play.

With QPR holding on by the skin of its teeth late on, Alex McLeish will be more than delighted with his team's comeback, but will be left wondering what might have been as its second-half pressure more than warranted a victory in an enjoyable end-to-end game.