No need for a QPR postmortem, just three questions for Leeds United and football authorities to answer - Graham Smyth's Verdict

Poor finishing and poorer officiating, again. Losing in London, again. A lack of game-changing options on the bench, again. A dwindling cushion between Leeds and a chasing pack smelling blood, again. The number one transfer target still not signed, sealed and delivered, again.

And perhaps worst of all, a growing fear of a complete meltdown.

What this game and this weekend called for was a victory, by any means, by any scoreline, to calm the nerves and settle everyone down. It called for a Patrick Bamford goal, to quieten the doubters and the critics, to send his confidence soaring and maybe even quell the transfer window panic. It called for a bucking of the London away day trend. It called for decent officiating.

Instead, everything Leeds United got everything they did not need.

It was a day when things just didn't look, feel or sit right. From the half-and-half scarves on sale on South Africa Road, to the lack of experience on the bench. From Stuart Dallas' poor first touch in the left-back position, allowing Bright Osayi-Samuel to go on the first of several dangerous runs, to an uncharacteristically under-cooked pass from Pablo Hernandez that tempted Lee Wallace into a risky lunge in Helder Costa's direction, referee Peter Bankes electing not to award what appeared to be a clear penalty. Much worse was to come, but the tone was set.

In a frenetic, end-to-end start, both sides had chances and neither had a great deal of control. Osayi-Samuel, Ebere Eze and Ilias Chair, QPR's trio of tricky dangermen behind striker Nahki Wells were heavily involved and influential, running at Leeds, finding pockets of space, beating men and causing merry hell.

For Leeds, Bamford got involved early on too, his confidence apparently intact as he swung an audacious shot from near halfway over wandering keeper Liam Kelly but wide of goal.

It was niggly, little fouls all over the park disrupting the flow. Sadly for Leeds, Liam Cooper was unable to commit one on halfway as Osayi-Samuel broke away from him and the next opportunity to stop him came on the edge of the box, Pablo Hernandez conceding a free-kick.

What happened next was fairly typical of what United have had to endure in the capital this season. Eze's free-kick was deflected into the path of Wells and, with Kiko Casilla deceived by the deflection, the striker managed to get contact on the ball with both arms before finding the net. As Leeds players surrounded Bankes in protest, it was clear a nightmare was unfolding. The officials had missed both handballs. Somehow.

It was unbelievable and yet perfectly believable at the same time. The red card that was rescinded at Millwall, the penalty that shouldn't have been at Fulham and the VAR-approved kick out at Gaetano Berardi all suggest that Leeds should just expect unfair treatment in London.

And in the wake of the goal, Leeds looked wobbly, persisting with errors that handed possession to a midfield trio in ominous form.

Chair found an unforgivable amount of space and time in a packed area but swept an effort well wide before Wells - looking a little offside - missed a chance to tuck home another Eze free-kick.

Frustration was rife on and off the park for Leeds even before this game. Fans are frustrated by the absence of signings, Marcelo Bielsa was frustrated by questions put to him in Thursday's press conference and the language of Hernandez and Kalvin Phillips showed how they felt about the way this game was being officiated and the way it was going.

The unjust opener could and should have been cancelled out when Bamford, shrugging off a foul, had time to loft the ball over the once-more-stranded Kelly, but summed things up with a hopelessly high effort. Chances, as Bielsa pointed out before the game, will always come for this Leeds side due to their style of play and they did at Loftus Road in a second half that they managed to get a firm grip of. Cooper and Jack Harrison both headed wide, corners and free-kicks continued to flow for the visitors but they might as well have declined the opportunity to take them, so little success came their way. It doesn't look right to see the ball pumped into the box over and over again when Leeds almost never win the first ball.

In open play, Costa came into the game more, Gjanni Alioksi added to the attacking impetus on the other flank and Leeds kept trying.

Their efforts finally bore fruit when Bamford got onto the ball in the area, drew Kelly into contact and Bankes pointed to the spot. The bravery the striker showed in taking the penalty was not reflected in his effort, which lacked the conviction to beat the dive of Kelly, who pushed it around the post and then gathered the resulting corner while Leeds looked shellshocked and Bamford distraught.

A mazy dribble from Osayi-Samuel aside, Leeds retained control of the game but if a free hit from 12 yards wasn't going to be their moment, a comeback felt unlikely.

Bamford heading a dangerous Mateusz Klich cross further away from goal than seemed possible was the point at which disaster was all but confirmed.

Hernandez did clip the outside of the post with a free-kick but all this game would deliver for the Whites was more frustration.

Wells, seconds after missing a chance to wrap things up and seeing his number in lights on the touchline, declined Bankes' invitation to walk off at the nearest point of exit, then ignored the referee's instruction to make haste, Leeds further wound up by the sight of the goalscorer walking off.

Yet there was little excuse for the way in which Phillips chose to demonstrate his state of mind, going in late and high on Geoff Cameron and earning a red card that just adds to the myriad problems of his beloved club.

Eze blazing over before the full-time whistle spared Leeds from conceding a second but did nothing to take the sting out of the injustice and bitter disappointment for almost 3,000 Whites in attendance.

What happened over the 90 minutes is almost irrelevant. It is what happens next that matters.

What will Andrea Radrizzani, Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear do in the transfer window?

What will Bielsa do to resolve the absence of his midfield enforcer and the conversion rate problem?

What will the game's authorities do to show they're taking these all-too-frequent refereeing errors seriously?

Leeds have no control over the last question's outcome, but two out of three ain't bad.

It's down to the Elland Road decision makers now, to decide how this all ends.