Queens Park Rangers and Reading were still both left searching for their first Premier League win of the season after sharing the points in a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road on Sunday.
However, the result did see QPR at least climb off the bottom of the table, leapfrogging Southampton on goal difference ahead of the Saints’ match against West Brom on Monday.
Former QPR defender Kaspars Gorkss opened the scoring for visitors Reading, who remained a point in front of his old club, in the 16th minute.
But Djibril Cisse eased the pressure on QPR manager Mark Hughes, who continues to be backed by the west London club’s Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes, with a 66th minute equaliser.
QPR twice went close to a winner, Reading keeper Alex McCarthy saving when one-on-one with Adel Taarabt before French striker Cisse saw a shot fade just wide of the left post with the last kick of the match in stoppage time.
Afterwards Cisse insisted QPR, who spent heavily in pre-season, were in a false position.
“You see the quality we have in the team, we don’t belong at the bottom,” he told Sky Sports.
“No disrespect to the other teams – we don’t belong there but football is on the pitch, it is not by talking.
“We create chances but we don’t score, or we don’t score enough as the other team get more.”
Reflecting on Sunday’s match, he added: “At least it’s a draw but to be fair we wanted to win this game, we had the opportunity to win it.
“When we have clear chances we have to score.
“That is what we are lacking at the moment but we are going to keep trying.”
Reading came into this match reeling from the shock of their extraordinary 7-5 League Cup defeat by Arsenal in midweek, where they let slip a 4-0 lead.
Royals manager Brian McDermott was pleased with Sunday’s result, saying: “It’s a good point. We were unfortunate because at 1-0 we could have gone 2-0 up. But at 1-1 Alex McCarthy made a fantastic save from Taarabt.
“Our performance was a really good away-from-home performance. We will take the point and move on.
“We were excellent at times and really dug in This is a difficult place to come – Everton have drawn here and Chelsea have drawn here – so it’s a good point,” McDermott insisted.
Reading made the running early on and went ahead from a Nicky Shorey corner.
Sean Morrison headed the ball against the bar before Latvia’s Gorkss, showing good technique, volleyed in his first Premier League goal with QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar getting a hand to the shot before it found its way into the net.
Gorkss declined to celebrate his goal, having also scored against Rangers in the League Cup earlier this season after leaving QPR at the end of last term.
QPR though got back into the game but wasted several promising opportunities before McCarthy saved superbly to tip Esteban Granero’s free-kick from the edge of the box onto the crossbar in the 38th minute.
Hughes’s men continued to pile on the pressure in the second half and the Reading defence finally cracked when Cisse took one touch to control a cross from Jose Bosingwa before finding the bottom corner with a well-struck shot.
