Howler time ... Robert Green punches the ball into his own net. Source: AFP
QPR boss Harry Redknapp was left fuming at referee Chris Foy after seeing his side beaten 2-1 at home by West Bromwich Albion.
There was little festive cheer for the locals to enjoy at Loftus Road, with Redknapp branding some of the decisions which went against QPR as "scandalous" and "terrible".
The most contentious call during a game which saw QPR slump back to the foot of the Barclays Premier League table came when West Brom notched their second goal.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 19 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 46 |
| 2 | Man City | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 39 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 35 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 33 |
| 5 | Everton | 19 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 33 |
| 6 | West Brom | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 33 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 30 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
| 9 | Swansea | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 25 |
| 10 | Stoke | 18 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 25 |
| 11 | Norwich | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | -8 | 25 |
| 12 | West Ham | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 23 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 19 | 5 | 7 | 7 | -4 | 22 |
| 14 | Fulham | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | -5 | 21 |
| 15 | Newcastle | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | -7 | 20 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | -21 | 18 |
| 17 | Southampton | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -11 | 16 |
| 18 | Wigan | 19 | 4 | 3 | 12 | -16 | 15 |
| 19 | Reading | 19 | 1 | 7 | 11 | -16 | 10 |
| 20 | QPR | 19 | 1 | 7 | 11 | -17 | 10 |
Robert Green appeared to be impeded by West Brom striker Marc-Antoine Fortune as he challenged for a high ball and ended up flapping into his own net.
"It was a foul. The fella (Fortune) was backing him into the goal - he's backing in and has got no intention of playing the ball. He couldn't get a fist to it, couldn't do nothing with it. It was a blatant foul," said Redknapp about the second goal.
Redknapp also felt that QPR were denied a penalty late on, with Liam Ridgewell appearing to handle inside the box.
"That one at the end is a blatant penalty. Ridgewell has got his hand up. It's a penalty. Scandalous decisions," he said.
Redknapp insisted his side didn't deserve to lose.
"Their keeper has pulled off unbelievable saves, they have got blocks on the line. It all changed. At 1-0 we're bang in the game, then he lets that goal stand and you are 2-0 down and we could have dropped heads. We didn't deserve to lose that game, no way," he said.
"Unfortunately they got the points and we got two terrible decisions which cost us dearly. We just have to keep going. We need to keep battling away, that's all we can do."
At Craven Cottage, Rickie Lambert converted an 85th-minute penalty to hand Southampton a crucial away draw and extend Fulham's poor run of form to only one win in 11 matches.
The home team had taken an early lead thanks to Dimitar Berbatov's sixth goal of the season and looked set to hang on for the victory.
However, former Saint Chris Baird handled in the box five minutes from time and Lambert converted to pull his team a point clear of the relegation zone.
Fulham made the better start and could have gone ahead in the third minute through Steve Sidwell's right-footed shot that whistled narrowly wide.
It didn't matter, though, because they took a deserved lead five minutes later when Ashkan Dejagah fed the overlapping Sascha Riether on the right flank, and his low cross found Berbatov to hook home from close range at the back post.
Fulham pushed on for a second and although had plenty of joy down the left flank through the impressive Alex Kacaniklic, they were unable to truly test Kelvin Davis in the Southampton goal.
At the Madjeski Stadium, Reading held Swansea City to a goalless stalemate to climb off the bottom of the table.
The point ended the Royals' seven-match losing run in the league and saw them climb above QPR in the table, although Brian McDermott's side sit six points from safety.
The visitors started the brighter, shrugging off the controversy surrounding Ashley Williams kicking the ball at Robin van Persie in their 1-1 draw to Manchester United last time.
Top-scorer Michu curled a shot just wide from the edge of the area early on before Ki Sung-Yueng blasted a free-kick over from distance.
Michu then had the ball in the net but was adjudged to have fouled Adrian Mariappa in the build-up.
In a late blow to Swansea, Michu went off injured on before Adam Le Fondre's goalbound volley was headed off the line by Chico as the game ended all square.
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