Some of the pundits will have you believe this was a bore draw and I've little doubt that it'll have been on towards the end of Match of the Day, but it was far from dull...
As you'd expect, all of the pre-match attention surrounded the 'will they or won't they' handshake saga. Well, they didn't. And that's all the coverage I'm going to give to that.
The match started at a high tempo with tackles flying and referee Marriner was letting an awful lot go. Ramires was booked early on and another referee might have dismissed him within the opening 20 minutes; for a while it looked as though he and a few others would yet again be unable to keep their heads in front of the highly charged home crowd. How Ji-Sung Park managed to stay out of the referee's notebook I will never know! In fact, Ryan Bertrand was somehow the only other name taken in a full-blooded first half that saw QPR lose Andy Johnson and Fabio to injury and Chelsea denied two penalties, the first a rugby tackle on John Terry by Ryan Nelsen which wasn't given because nobody likes John Terry, whilst the second was a coming together between Shaun Wright-Phillips and Eden Hazard which was less clear cut but SWP can consider himself lucky as he certainly didn't get any of the ball.
It was a real shame for QPR to lose Johnson and Fabio as both had started the match extremely well and contributed some fine touches to some neat attacking football from the home side who looked to start this game just as they finished the one at Citeh. However it was Chelsea who created the best opportunities of the half and forced debutant Julio Cesar into a couple of smart saves. On the subject of Cesar, the QPR defence looked so much more assured in front of him than they have done in front of Green in the first few weeks, he seems to bring a presence in the area that all good goalkeepers bring and I felt so much more relaxed when the ball came into the QPR half than against Swansea, Norwich or Citeh.
Another point of note in the first half was the performance of Esteban Granero, who, just as he did at Citeh, seemed to struggle with getting the Premier League ball out of his feet and his flighted passes struggled to pass men immediately in front of him. He was better in the second half but it still seems like he is used to kicking a different ball. I remember seeing Taye Taiwo having similar issues in his first couple of QPR games last year when on loan from AC Milan. Maybe it's just me that's picked up on this but it definitely didn't look right.
The second half was somewhat different with QPR upping the tempo and forcing the issue a little more. Chelsea were not allowed as much time on the ball as they were in the first half and Park, Wright-Phillips and Granero were absolutely outstanding in work rate, always chasing lost causes and pressurising Chelsea when they had the ball. In central defence, Torres and Hazard got absolutely no change out of Ryan Nelsen who stifled Chelsea's aerial threat brilliantly. Torres' frustration was growing and he fell to the ground more and more frequently in the second half with the kind of melodrama that will forever be associated with Chelsea strikers. Meanwhile Hazard was kept very quiet but for one golden opportunity in the last few minutes which he blazed over. Cue chants of 'what a waste of money!'. The biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for John Terry pulling up injured in front of the Paddocks which provided the best opportunity to send some abuse to the subhuman scum-bag.
The R's probably had the better of the half and the best chance fell to Bobby Zamora who, after managing to take Petr Cech out of the equation, spent too long dilly dallying before finally finding three Chelsea players back on the line ready to block his tame shot, which the first one did with ease. Before that, Ji-Sung Park had a free header at goal but could only head straight into the arms of Cech, which was hugely disappointing.
All that said, this was very positive for the home side. Alejandro Faurlin looked back to his pre-injury best as he sprayed passes all over the park. Esteban Granero showed he is extremely capable at coping with the physical demands of the Premier League whilst proving he has a fantastic work rate. Ji-Sung Park is showing he isn't past it as many United fans have made out.
Unsurprisingly, Di Matteo was wearing his Chelsea hat during his post-match interview and chose only to focus on the two said incidents rather than the fact that QPR had provided more than a match for his expensively assembled side. Every player put in a great shift in Hoops for this and this all bodes well for the coming fixtures away at Spurs and home to West Ham where their work rate will be key to getting positive results. Nobody will roll over for you in the Premier League, and QPR were definitely guilty of believing that Swansea would in the first week. I think they've learned their lesson now...
Man of the match: This could have gone to either Ji-Sung Park or Ryan Nelsen, but I'll go with the latter. What a fantastic signing for QPR he appears to be - I wasn't sure at first given his advancing years but he showed in this game he is still top class. He looks the best centre back we've had for a long time, and who knows, we may even have another better one yet to debut in Stephane Mbia. Very encouraging indeed.
C
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