Watford equalled a club record unbeaten run at Vicarage Road but were left frustrated by a 0-0 draw against relegation-threatened QPR.
The hosts made it 15 home games without defeat to equal the run set by Graham Taylor’s side in 1997, but missed an opportunity to close in on the Championship automatic-promotion places.
The first half was dominated by QPR, buoyed by their 2-0 victory at Cardiff in midweek which lifted them off the foot of the table.
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QPR have a good shout for a penalty waved away at Watford.
Head coach Marti Cifuentes will at least be satisfied with another clean sheet. Indeed, his side might have claimed victory after an impressive first-half showing.
Barely four minutes had gone when a Koki Saito run was halted by Moussa Sissoko to give the visitors a free-kick on the edge of the area, but Nicolas Madsen’s effort flicked off the Watford wall.
Saito then combined with Zan Celar to set up Madsen once more with the midfielder this time side-footing wastefully wide.
An Edo Kayembe shot straight at QPR keeper Paul Nardi failed to disrupt a period of away dominance with the ball frequently bouncing around the Watford area after knockdowns. The final touch, whether by design or a fortunate ricochet, was too often missing.
The visitors did not help themselves four minutes before half-time. Finally, a ball dropped in front of Celar, who scored his first QPR goals at Cardiff.
The Slovenian connected sweetly with his shot only to be thwarted by a brilliant parry by Daniel Bachmann before Liam Morrison lifted the rebound over the bar with an empty net beckoning.
Watford manager Tom Cleverley had clearly run out of patience with his passive side, introducing Kwadwo Baah and Rocco Vata as half-time substitutes and reverting to a back four.
Within four minutes Baah climbed to meet a cross from the irrepressible Giorgi Chakvetadze.
The Georgia midfielder was the most dynamic player on the pitch, continually driving forward as he did after 64 minutes when he dribbled past three defenders before seeing his flicked shot blocked by the legs of Nardi.
Morrison dragged another shot wide for QPR, but it was Watford who came closest to breaking the deadlock with 13 minutes remaining.
Imran Louza curled a superb free-kick at pace over the QPR wall, but was left frustrated when it struck the underside of the crossbar, flicked the post and bounced down within a few inches of crossing the line before Nardi somehow scrambled it to safety.
At the other end, QPR substitute Harrison Ashby failed to connect with a volley after the ball was lofted through to him by Lucas Andersen.
The visitors spurned an even better opportunity to record their second away win in four days when Celar clipped a shot against the outside of the Watford post in the final minute of normal time.
The managers
Watford’s Tom Cleverley:
“I thought that the pressure we put them under in the second half deserved to kick the door down, but on balance they probably shaved the best of the chances today.
“The result was a fair one. It was 0-0, but I’m not sure how. It was more of an entertaining 0-0 than a bore draw.
“Every Championship game offers up a different set of challenges. They are a well-coached team and if they get into a rhythm they are quite hard to break down. We struggled to deal with that in the first half.
“But with a change of system and a change of mentality, I thought we were entertaining in the second half. We were really pushing to win it and leaving ourselves a bit exposed.
“We utilised the whole squad today and I thought the subs brought us some fresh impetus.
Our home record is one that we’re really proud of as is the connection that we’ve managed to build with our supporters and we’ve managed to preserve it.
“We’re going to have frustrating days. It’s a long old season. We have big ambitions internally and I want to keep striving towards them.”
QPR’s Marti Cifuentes:
“The feeling is that it was a good performance against a very good team that is very, very strong at home. We made them change formation. We were a bit disappointed about the result and that says a lot.
“It was a good week for us with five points which could or maybe should have been better, but now we need to keep working and keep humble.
“From my experience here so far in the Championship, the next three or four months are the most important.”
