Furious QPR boss Mark Warburton blasted the match officials for a pair of key decisions in his side’s 2-1 defeat at west London rivals Brentford.
The former Bees boss was incensed that the hosts’ centre-back Mads Bech Sorensen was not sent off for a last-man foul on Lyndon Dykes before the break.
Warburton also slated referee Matt Donohue for dishing out a late second yellow to Todd Kane as his side chased an equaliser.
“For the first incident our player was there, and it was last man,” he said.
“There’s no other decision to give other than a sending-off. That’s one of the easiest calls and it’s changed the course of the game.”
He said Kane’s red card came after Marcus Forss and the Brentford bench “shouted loudest”, adding: “We are leaving here with nothing courtesy of some very questionable decisions.
“I’m full of respect for Brentford but it’s a bitter pill to swallow to play like that and come away with nothing. The game changes on those moments.”
Warburton felt his side deserved at least a point: “We showed what we can do, we played football and we’re a young side developing with new faces coming in, so tonight we are leaving here feeling very hard done by.
“We controlled the ball well, troubled Brentford and looked dangerous. All we want is consistency and that one moment will stick in my mind for a long time.”
The QPR boss was also critical of the hosts’ support team, adding: “I thought we were in lockdown but there were lots of voices in the stadium, which I found quite bizarre.”
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank hailed his side’s resilience and intensity as strikes from Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney ensured Dykes’ equaliser ultimately counted for nothing.
The Bees stretched their unbeaten run to seven and Frank said: “It was a difficult match but we played with the same intensity we’d have shown with 17,500 fans in the stadium.
“We got one of those wins that was tight, but we deserved it. We didn’t reach our highest level in terms of dominating but we showed unbelievable attitude together with hard work and in the second half we gave nothing away.”
Frank admitted the yellow card handed out to Sorensen was “borderline”, instead preferring to talk about the set-piece winner, Toney’s 13th goal of the season.
“If we had VAR the ref would have looked at it four or five times and then flipped a coin,” he said. “But I thought we responded well to a QPR side who are one of the top teams in the division and who are good on the ball.
“I have the greatest respect for Mark because he’s done a very good job at QPR, but the ref can only take a decision on what he sees and that was borderline.”
Frank was also quick to praise the return to form of winger Bryan Mbeumo, adding: “He was on fire and that is so good to see. He was electric in those one-on-one situations and we looked a threat every time we went forward.”
