Bolton raised hopes of staging a great escape from relegation with a vital 2-1 Sky Bet Championship victory over QPR at Loftus Road.
Wanderers, second-from-bottom of the table and beset by problems off the pitch, went ahead through Will Buckley’s goal, with Callum Connolly doubling their lead with 19 minutes remaining.
It was Freeman, however, who played a part in Bolton taking the lead against the run of play 10 minutes before half-time when he gave the ball away.
Freeman’s attempted to pass to Massimo Luongo was intercepted by Sammy Ameobi, who then laid the ball off to Joe Williams near the right-hand edge of the penalty area.
When Josh Magennis’ header from the resulting cross by Williams was parried by Joe Lumley, Buckley was on hand to score from close range.
Freeman, captain in the absence of the dropped Toni Leistner, had been QPR’s stand-out player up to that point.
They were fortunate, though, not to concede a second goal five minutes before doing so when Buckley blasted against the underside of the bar after being found by Ameobi’s low cross.
The keeper could only palm Ameobi’s low shot as far as Connolly, who helped himself to his third goal since being signed on a season-long loan from Everton.
