Argyle came from two goals down to beat Queens Park Rangers and advance to Round Two of this season’s Carabao Cup. 

The fact that the Greens were two behind at the break was a bit of a mystery. Argyle dominated possession, and had 16 shots in a first half that they seemingly controlled, but goals from Daniel Bennie and Rayan Kolli, either side of Jamie Paterson’s saved penalty, took the Hoops in two up at the interval. 

In the second half, the goals finally came, starting with Brendan Wiredu’s close-range finish and an Owen Oseni goal, both in the opening nine minutes of the half. Oseni scored again with 12 minutes to go, and Argyle had passage to the second round. 

Argyle’s side contained six of the starting line-up from the league game against Bolton Wanderers three days earlier, as well as four debutants, and 17-year-old Tegan Finn, making his second senior start. 

Luca Ashby-Hammond kept his spot in goal, and Victor Palsson continued to captain the side from centre-back. Kornel Szucs switched to right-back, Wiredu returned to the side in the centre of defence, and Ayman Benarous started for the first time at left-back. 

In midfield, the holding axis of Malachi Boateng and Bradley Ibrahim continued, with Jamie Paterson playing front of them on his full Argyle debut. To his left, Joe Hatch, an Academy graduate making his first start for the club, having turned professional in the summer, and to the right, Finn, still a second-year apprentice. Up front, Oseni made his starting bow. 

For Rangers, not one of their starting 11 from Saturday’s draw with Preston North End made the trip to Devon. Three of their substitutes used on the weekend – Rayan Kolli, Rumarn Burrell and Harvey Vale – started at Home Park. The majority of the rest of their squad was made up of young, untested players. 

Argyle started brightly, and a really slick move after just three minutes could have brought the opening goal. Several players linked with swift, one-touch passing to release Szucs on the right, and his low cross was flicked by Hatch, with the effort going just over. 

Finn then buzzed past a series of defenders, was brought down on the edge of the area, and Paterson’s free-kick went not far over. 

Argyle kept up the pressure. Paterson was off target from an Oseni knockdown, and the first 20 minutes was virtually one-way traffic – and then QPR scored. 

Elijah Dixon-Bonner floated a cross from the left which was headed goalwards by Rumarn Burrell. Ashby-Hammond saved, but the ball fell to Bennie, who tapped gleefully home. 

Argyle looked to answer immediately, and won a penalty within five minutes of going behind. A corner was partially cleared, Finn linked with Ibrahim and got into the box, only to be brought down by Burrell. Paterson took the kick, but it was saved by Paul Nardi in the QPR goal. 

Argyle stayed on the front foot, but this left gaps. From a corner, with the Pilgrims pushed up, a clearance saw Burrell run beyond. Boateng made a good recovery run, and as Burrell tried to clip to a team-mate arriving on the scene, Ashby-Hammond emerged to claim the ball. 

For the rest of the half, rinse and repeat. The ball rarely left an Argyle boot; though it would a be fair argument to say that Argyle created several half-chances, without carving out anything serious to trouble Nardi again. 

Then, in similar against-the-run-of-play fashion to the first goal, the Hoops scored again. This time, they won a corner, played it short, and sent a ball to the far post where Kolli arrived to head home. 

This was in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, but there was still time for an excellent Greens chance. It came from the unlikely source of Kornel Szucs, and the even less likely route of a marauding run from the Hungarian, who drove into space, evaded two challenges, and struck on target, with Nardi pushing away. 

Even after that, from the corner, Argyle took it quickly, and Finn stung Nardi’s palms. The fact that Argyle were behind at all at half-time felt strange; that it was 2-0 was bizarre. 

Inside four minutes of the restart, Argyle halved the gap. Finn’s corner was flicked on, then headed back across the centre, to where Wiredu was waiting, a yard or two out, to turn in. 

Argyle were nearly level almost immediately. Another corner, this time from the left, saw Palsson run round the back and head goalwards, only to see the effort cleared from the line. Such was the angle, many in the Beacon Electrical Mayflower Grandstand thought it was in. 

It did not take long for the equaliser to come, though. It came from excellent work from Benarous, who received a ball on the touchline, wove past a defender, and crossed deep to the far post. 

Even then, it was not a simple task for Oseni, but he acrobatically rose and got his left foot on the bar to turn it home. Parity, and not ten minutes of the second half played. 

A familiar pattern emerged. Argyle pressure, very occasional QPR breaks, but ones that often felt dangerous. From a corner, Kolli missed his kick, Argyle failed to clear, and Jaylan Pearman whistled in a low drive which Ashby-Hammond did well to hold. 

Argyle completed the turnaround with just over ten minutes to go. Caleb Watts, on as a substitute, clipped into the centre, and although many looked to the side for an offside flag, none was forthcoming, and Oseni finished to put the Greens in front. 

Paterson limped off late on, after all substitutes had been made, meaning Argyle had to see the game out with ten men, but this was achieved, and the Greens were through. 

Argyle: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 4 Brendan Wiredu, 6 Kornel Szucs (29 Matty Sorinola, 65) , 7 Jamie Paterson, 14 Ayman Benarous, 18 Owen Oseni (27 Bim Pepple, 80), 19 Malachi Boateng, 23 Bradley Ibrahim (17 Caleb Watts, 57,) 38 Joe Hatch (11 Bali Mumba, 57), 39 Tegan Finn (10 Xavier Amaechi, 65) , 44 Victor Palsson (capt). Substitutes: 13 Zak Baker (gk), Jack Flower (gk), 40 Joe Mwaro, 41 Seb Campbell. 

Goals: Wiredu 48, Oseni 54, 78

QPR: 1 Paul Nardo (capt), 16 Rumarn Burrell (45 Cian Dillon, half-time), 20 Harvey Vale, 23 Daniel Bennie, 25 Jaylan Pearman (55 Ashley Trujillo, 86), 26 Rayan Kolli, 30 Tylon Smith, 34 Elijah Dixon-Bonner (39 Teddy Tarbotton, 90), 36 Emmerson Sutton (52 Lorent Talla half-time), 43 Jaiden Putman (50 Kalen Brunson, 86), 44 Alex Wilkie. Substitutes: 32 Matteo Salamon (gk), 41 Noah McCann, 42 Alfie Tuck, 51 Jake Leahy. 

Goals: Bennie 21, Kolli 45

Booked: Sutton 38

Attendance: 10,884 (986 away)

Referee: John Busby