Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Queens Park Rangers: Pilgrims grab late equaliser
Plymouth Argyle rescued what could be a crucial point in their fight against relegation as they drew 1-1 with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship.
Paul Smyth twice should have given the R's the lead - he put a first-half shot into the side-netting before being denied by Michael Cooper when one-on-one 10 minutes into the second half.
QPR finally got the goal their chances deserved when Sam Field finished off a goalmouth scramble after Argyle failed to deal with a corner.
But Argyle got an unlikely equaliser when Albert Adomah turned a corner into his own net under pressure from substitute Mustapha Bundu.
The draw moves QPR up to 16th place and gives them a four-point buffer to the relegation places with four games to play.
Managerless Argyle managed to miss out on setting an unwanted club record of six successive home games without scoring a goal, but they drop to 20th place and two points from safety after Millwall's win over Leicester City.
Having beaten Rotherham on Friday night the hosts were unchanged for their first home game since Ian Foster was sacked as head coach eight days ago
But they started nervously under pressure from a QPR side that lost at home to Sheffield Wednesday last time out and gave away possession in dangerous areas with Smyth coming closest to capitalising after a wayward Morgan Whittaker pass.
Whittaker flashed a low 15th-minute effort past the right post, while QPR's Ilias Chair had a shot blocked after he had found his way into the home box 12 minutes later as a defensively solid Rangers ensured Argyle rarely troubled when in possession in the opening period.
The Londoners should have been ahead 10 minutes before the break when Bali Mumba switched off to leave Smyth free at the back post, but the Northern Ireland winger fired Chair's cross from the left into the side-netting.
Chair missed a good chance early in the second period after a slip by Ashley Phillips as the game burst into life with both sides having big chances in a three-minute spell.
First Whittaker forced a good 54th-minute save from Asmir Begovic, then Smyth missed a gilt-edged effort after Lyndon Dykes broke clear and squared it to his open team-mate, but his shot was saved from 10 yards before Begovic palmed away a Mumba shot.
As Argyle appeared to tire Chair started to look more dangerous down the left and having won a corner it was his delivery which led to Jimmy Dunne's back-post header being saved by Cooper. Dykes' follow-up effort was cleared off the line by Matthew Sorinola but Field was there to prod home from close range.
But just when it looked as though home hopes were lost, a corner kick from the left stuck the shins of Adomah, under pressure at the back post from Bundu, and his own goal ensured Argyle ended a goalless streak that had lasted more than 500 minutes.
Plymouth Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip told BBC Sport:
"We genuinely thought we could win the game, at half-time we still thought the same.
"When they scored that was the moment that the team had to show incredible resilience, I thought the crowd were magnificent to help us, and we got the goal which could be invaluable.
"We see it as a point gained, not an opportunity missed at home.
"That's now four points from two games which means momentum for us is changing and we go again Friday."
Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes told BBC Sport:
"It was obviously disappointing because we created enough chances to not only win the game, but to close the game.
"But that's the reality of football, it's not a new rule, I mentioned some weeks ago that it is unfortunately something that we've experienced this season, we don't have the accuracy to close games.
"For us it was very important today to react and to react in a strong way, after a weak performance [against Sheffield Wednesday] and I think the guys delivered.
"That makes me feel confident about seeing the effort they put in and the quality we played, especially in the second half, and after we scored the first goal we kept pressing high, kept pushing, trying to create chances.
"That's the way I want to see QPR playing and that's why today I feel very sad about the result because we are in a moment of the season where results are always what matters."
