Joe Cole rescued a 1-1 draw for West Ham after Loic Remy struck for QPR

Joe Cole: The midfielder scored his first goal since his return to West Ham

Joe Cole: The midfielder scored his first goal since his return to West Ham

Joe Cole rescued a 1-1 draw for West Ham after record-signing Loic Remy struck for QPR on his debut at Upton Park.

The visitors struck against the run of play when record-signing Remy latched on to an inch-perfect Adel Taarabt throughball and slotted past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

West Ham may feel unlucky to have not been awarded a penalty at the other end when an industrious Marouane Chamakh went down, but Howard Webb waved play on despite the protests.

The Hammers' equaliser came in the second half when substitute Carlton Cole saw his header parried into the returning Cole's path who tapped in the much-deserved leveller - his first for the Hammers since 2003.

Match facts

Man of the match Stephane MBia. The QPR man put his body on the line to keep the Rs in the game.

Goal of the game: Loic Remy's debut goal was a taste of what this Frenchman will bring to QPR and the Premier League.

Moment of the match: Joe Cole's leveller. It seemed to just make the Boleyn Ground erupt and was more than deserved.

Talking point: Will QPR have enough firepower to stay up? They look shaky at set-pieces but if they can defend like they did against West Ham, then they could avoid the drop.

West Ham's goal was more than deserved in a half they dominated and without QPR's resolute defending, the hosts could have netted two or three with Winston Reid seeing a couple of efforts somehow kept out by the solid Stephane MBia.

Mouth-watering

A number of factors romanticised this tie whether it was billed as a mouth-watering east versus west London derby, Harry Redknapp facing the club he gained cult status from, Joe Cole being back with his boyhood side or multi-million pound surprise signing Loic Remy leading the line for the visitors.

Whichever factor, they all added up to what was a feisty encounter in which QPR were desperate to win to climb off the bottom spot and West Ham keen to break into the top ten.

The hosts started the better and looked towards Chamakh through long-range passes, almost hopeful at times.

But as these tactics continued, QPR kept exploiting the pace of Remy with Taarabt picking the striker out every time with a pass and only the offside trap stopping the 26-year-old in his tracks.

The passes soon paid off when Taarabt threaded a defence-splitting ball towards Remy who had tracked his run and steadied himself before coolly finishing for the opener and a dream start to his Premier League debut in the 14th minute.

A shell-shocked West Ham could have got back into the tie when Chamakh shook off a Clint Hill hold before going down under a Shaun Wright-Phillips challenge in the area but Webb was not convinced by the Morocco international's pleas.

It was not until the second half that the hosts really took hold of the game with Mo Diame seeing a shot on the turn blocked and Matt Jarvis' teasing crosses from the left failing to have an end product.

QPR had little to shout about in this half and were made to defend which they did resiliently until the equaliser in the 68th minute.

It came from a delicate Jarvis delivery, who had been locked in a tasty battled with Nedum Onuoha all afternoon, and the rising Carlton Cole headed down forcing Cesar to save to his left. However, the Brazilian's block fell kindly into Joe Cole's path who had the easiest of levellers to see Boleyn Ground erupt.

Reid then had a piledriver blocked expertly by MBia who was in fine form throughout, putting his body on the line at every opportunity and gratefully seeing a goalmouth scramble cleared.

Joe Cole was then forced out wide by Cesar in the area with the midfielder managing to get his shot away after rounding the keeper, however Fabio was in the right place to clear from the line.

QPR held on for what could be a vital point for their survival with West Ham unable to make their chances count.


Source : http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/261789/report