After going into the International break on a high, Liverpool looked to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season as they made the trip to face QPR in the first of seven games in 21 days.
The hosts looked to put an early mark on the game when they attacked through Charlie Austin inside three minutes but the striker's shot went high over the bar before he drew a superb stop from Simon Mignolet six minutes later after advancing on goal.
Liverpool were unable to clear their lines as QPR continued to pile on the pressure and only the width of the crossbar denied them from taking a 28th minute lead, Bobby Zamora broke forward and pulled the back into the path of Leroy Fer who hit for goal only to see the ball cannon off the crossbar.
The visitors failed to learn from the scare and were again lucky not to concede in the 34th minute as they were carved open again by a clever QPR attack as Zamora picked out Fer who headed against the bar resulting in a goal-line clearance from Glen Johnson as Liverpool survived.
Despite dominating the first half, QPR could have gone into the interval behind when Steven Gerrard turned the hosts defence before aiming a shot at goal that drifted just past the post before Mario Balotelli rushed a shot which went wide of the target.
Alike the first half, QPR made a bright start to the second as Sandro struck a powerful shot which forced a superb save from Simon Mignolet before Liverpool countered with Henderson blazing over at the end of a decent move.
Liverpool seemed to be more attack minded in the second half and came close to breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute as a clever run from Glen Johnson gave him space to shoot but his effort failed to trouble stand-in keeper Alex McCarthy who saved easily.
QPR countered well and came just inches from opening the scoring as Charlie Austin hit a shot across goal that beat Simon Mignolet but failed to trickle over the line but the miss was pale in comparison to the howler from Mario Balotelli on the hour mark.
Raheem Sterling picked out fellow England midfielder Adam Lallana who forced a good save from Alex McCarthy whose stop rebounded into the path of Mario Balotelli who blazed over with an empty net at his mercy.
However, Liverpool did break the deadlock in the 68th minute and very fortuitously as a quickly taken free-kick allowed Glen Johnson to sweep in a cross which struck the leg of Richard Dunne and beat Alex McCarthy to put the Reds ahead.
QPR looked to level and came close with two good efforts from Charlie Austin and Armand Traore which drew superb saves from Mignolet but the Belgian keeper was soon picking the ball out of the net as the hosts equalised.
Eduardo Vargas who had come on in place of Bobby Zamora in the 79th minute used his freshness to power through the Liverpool defence before completing a one-two with Charlie Austin and firing past Mignolet from close range.
The momentum was with the hosts and they came close to a superb turnaround as Charlie Austin crossed for Steven Caulker with the Rangers defender denied by a great block by Martin Skrtel, Liverpool staged a counter attack and Steven Gerrard picked out Phillipe Coutinho who sashayed through the hosts defence before side footing past McCarthy for 2-1.
However, QPR drew level in rapid fashion as straight from the restart they forced a corner which Leroy Fer crossed into the box before finding the head of Eduardo Vargas whose effort crept in at the near post to level the score at 2-2 with just seconds left of added time.
Liverpool broke forward through Raheem Sterling and having had a nightmare of an afternoon, Mario Balotelli awaited at the back post eager to score but saw Sterling's pull back find Steven Caulker whose momentum saw him hit the ball into his own net to seal the win for Liverpool in the most bizarre of endings.
A result which the Liverpool contingent agreed was undeserved given the superb performance by the hosts but with European champions Real Madrid visiting Anfield on Wednesday an improvement is rapidly needed by Liverpool to prevent a nightmare evening.
The hosts looked to put an early mark on the game when they attacked through Charlie Austin inside three minutes but the striker's shot went high over the bar before he drew a superb stop from Simon Mignolet six minutes later after advancing on goal.
Liverpool were unable to clear their lines as QPR continued to pile on the pressure and only the width of the crossbar denied them from taking a 28th minute lead, Bobby Zamora broke forward and pulled the back into the path of Leroy Fer who hit for goal only to see the ball cannon off the crossbar.
The visitors failed to learn from the scare and were again lucky not to concede in the 34th minute as they were carved open again by a clever QPR attack as Zamora picked out Fer who headed against the bar resulting in a goal-line clearance from Glen Johnson as Liverpool survived.
Despite dominating the first half, QPR could have gone into the interval behind when Steven Gerrard turned the hosts defence before aiming a shot at goal that drifted just past the post before Mario Balotelli rushed a shot which went wide of the target.
Alike the first half, QPR made a bright start to the second as Sandro struck a powerful shot which forced a superb save from Simon Mignolet before Liverpool countered with Henderson blazing over at the end of a decent move.
Liverpool seemed to be more attack minded in the second half and came close to breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute as a clever run from Glen Johnson gave him space to shoot but his effort failed to trouble stand-in keeper Alex McCarthy who saved easily.
QPR countered well and came just inches from opening the scoring as Charlie Austin hit a shot across goal that beat Simon Mignolet but failed to trickle over the line but the miss was pale in comparison to the howler from Mario Balotelli on the hour mark.
Raheem Sterling picked out fellow England midfielder Adam Lallana who forced a good save from Alex McCarthy whose stop rebounded into the path of Mario Balotelli who blazed over with an empty net at his mercy.
However, Liverpool did break the deadlock in the 68th minute and very fortuitously as a quickly taken free-kick allowed Glen Johnson to sweep in a cross which struck the leg of Richard Dunne and beat Alex McCarthy to put the Reds ahead.
QPR looked to level and came close with two good efforts from Charlie Austin and Armand Traore which drew superb saves from Mignolet but the Belgian keeper was soon picking the ball out of the net as the hosts equalised.
Eduardo Vargas who had come on in place of Bobby Zamora in the 79th minute used his freshness to power through the Liverpool defence before completing a one-two with Charlie Austin and firing past Mignolet from close range.
The momentum was with the hosts and they came close to a superb turnaround as Charlie Austin crossed for Steven Caulker with the Rangers defender denied by a great block by Martin Skrtel, Liverpool staged a counter attack and Steven Gerrard picked out Phillipe Coutinho who sashayed through the hosts defence before side footing past McCarthy for 2-1.
However, QPR drew level in rapid fashion as straight from the restart they forced a corner which Leroy Fer crossed into the box before finding the head of Eduardo Vargas whose effort crept in at the near post to level the score at 2-2 with just seconds left of added time.
Liverpool broke forward through Raheem Sterling and having had a nightmare of an afternoon, Mario Balotelli awaited at the back post eager to score but saw Sterling's pull back find Steven Caulker whose momentum saw him hit the ball into his own net to seal the win for Liverpool in the most bizarre of endings.
A result which the Liverpool contingent agreed was undeserved given the superb performance by the hosts but with European champions Real Madrid visiting Anfield on Wednesday an improvement is rapidly needed by Liverpool to prevent a nightmare evening.
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