Lancashire | Preston earn credible point at QPR

Queens Park Rangers 1 - 1 Preston North End

Preston began their Championship campaign with a hard-fought point at QPR.

Author | Mark Lee

Stadium | Loftus Road

Montenegro striker Milutin Osmajic cancelled out a first-half own goal with a deft chip over Joe Walsh, racing on to Daniel Iversen’s long clearance. The equaliser came after Karamoko Dembele’s driving run and low cross had forced Andrew Hughes into an attempted clearance that ricocheted off Ben Whiteman and into the Preston net.

A closer look at what happened

Both teams had some good chances in the early moments of the match. Lewis Gibson was the first to come close when he connected with Small’s cross from the right, but his header went just wide. Three minutes later, Kwame Poku had a close-range shot that soared over the bar.

QPR's Karamoko Dembele was a constant menace early on, twice going close before the break, but the home side's attacking threat waned after the interval.

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On the half-hour, Karamoko Dembele glanced a header just over before playing a decisive role in the game's opener. The winger skipped past two Preston defenders and drove a low cross into the box, where Andrew Hughes’ attempted clearance cannoned off Ben Whiteman and into his own net.

Preston trailed at the interval but needed only three minutes after the restart to draw level. From a corner, Daniel Iversen launched a pinpoint drop-kick into the path of Milutin Osmajic, who produced a sublime first-time lob with the outside of his right foot to beat Joe Walsh.

Near the end of the match, PNE seemingly had all the momentum it although they couldn’t quite create a clear-cut opportunity to test the QPR and turn one point into three in the capital.

Preston look to move on from last season's malaise

PNE's awful run of form last season saw them stay up by just a point on the last day of the season, having won just one of their final 15 games.

However, they will have seen enough here to have reasons for optimism that better times could lie ahead this season. 

Which players stood out for Preston

Daniel Iversen

Assisted PNE’s goal and produced some important saves - one was excellent.

Milutin Osmajic

Set up Preston’s equaliser and made a series of important saves, one of them outstanding.

Andrija Vukcevic

Was pretty solid defensively but didn't really offer a lot from an attacking perspective.