sunday papers QPR fa cup

The Sunday TimesJanuary 6, 2008
Keeper Lee Kamp's slip saves Chelsea
Chelsea 1 QPR 0
Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge
Queens Park Rangers, with their regiment of newly-signed players, gave Chelsea a thorough run for their money in this London derby, going down to a single, freakish goal which came after 28 minutes. Chelsea’s Claudio Pizarro drove in a right-footed shot, Lee Camp, the QPR goalkeeper, seemed to misjudge it as he dived and had the mortification of deflecting the ball into his own net off his arm as it came back off the left-hand post.
After that, the floodgates never opened. Indeed, in the second half, QPR made more chances than Chelsea, prompting the Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, to praise his third-choice goalkeeper, Henrique Hilario. He also paid tribute to the visitors and underdogs. He said: “It was a typical cup game. We did our job, that is most important for me. We are in the next round.
“QPR played tactically very well. They were very clever and closed the space very well. It was a game like we expected. We held the ball most of the time. They tried to score at set-pieces. We scored one goal and created more chances but what is important is to be in the next round. In the cup it is important to do your job and we did that.”
Satisfied, too, up to a point, was Rangers’ shrewd Italian manager, Luigi De Canio, who has, as a coach, covered his own peninsula from top to bottom, from Udinese in the northeast to Napoli in the southwest. He may not be a Capello or a Lippi, but in the relatively short time since he took over at Shepherd’s Bush, he has guided what was a failing team out of trouble and now, with all his new faces, he will doubtless hope for more. “Chelsea demonstrated they are a great team,” he said. “They behaved well. I think we did what we were expected to – we were quite tidy on the pitch. We tried to take advantage of every possible chance that we had.
“I am very satisfied with the performance. We worked well and it just shows we are on course to grow in the way we want. We put them under pressure and did our job well but unluckily we didn’t win. It is never nice to lose but Chelsea are the great champions they are and they were good at creating chances.”
Asked about the super abundance of new players, De Canio confessed that he had simply acted on advice before signing them. A modest, charming, but decisive man, his own appointment, after it was rumoured that the more prominent Francesco Guidolin would arrive, now looks to have been almost an inspired one.
The sudden influx of money to Shepherd’s Bush could enable him at this stage to buy the kind of players he seldom had in Italy except perhaps with Udinese and Napoli.
It was a pity, yesterday, that one of the best he inherited, the gifted Hungarian playmaker Akos Buzsaky, should hurt his ankle and depart early in the second half having recently made formal his transfer from Plymouth for £500,000. Peanuts, of course, to the big hitters who have now taken Rangers over.
De Canio is already looking forward with optimism. “I know we can do a lot better,” he said. “Certainly, we had only a few training days. I’m satisfied, but there’s a lot more work to do. We kept them in suspense.”
As to the somewhat farcical goal, he observed philosophically: “When you are up against a great team such as Chelsea, you have to expect it. That’s the law of sport.” And to give the unfortunate Camp his due, he did make a couple of excellent saves in the second half.
Not only did QPR defend with resolution and organisation in the second half, they also had their moments in attack, not least in the shape of lively central midfielder and captain Martin Rowlands.
After a first half largely devoid of dramatic incident, despite the goal, Rowlands was admirably ready to shoot on sight every time he got anywhere near Hilario’s goal.
Chelsea began the second half by testing Camp with Alex’s fierce, low, long-range free kick that the keeper turned round his right-hand post, but Rowlands then came vigorously into the picture. Three minutes later, he sent a shot whistling only just above the bar. Four minutes after that, he made himself space and opportunity for a left-footed drive that was blocked by Hilario.
Playing with only one forward in the first half, in the shape of the resourceful and determined Dexter Blackstock, QPR at half-time brought on another of last week’s acquisitions in the shape of former Preston striker Patrick Agyemang, who, on 58 minutes, resiliently made himself the opportunity for a forceful right-footed shot, but Hilario saved that, too.
Alex’s attempt apart, Chelsea did not threaten much in the second half. On 56 minutes, Pizarro was clean through, cutting inside Chris Barker, only to shoot wildly over the bar. Didier Drogba, brought on to great applause as a 60th-minute substitute, took a pass from Joe Cole in stoppage time and rapped in a low shot, again turned round a post by Camp. Drogba has clearly recovered from his knee operation, but he and Chelsea’s other gifted Africans will all too soon be taking part in the African Cup of Nations.
One should also mention in the first half a thundering, right-footed shot by Steve Sidwell, looking far more confident and assertive than he did the other day at Fulham. When Shaun Wright-Phillips and Salomon Kalou set him up, his drive beat Camp, only to come back off that same, ill-omened post.
In a colossal irony, even Chelsea’s billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, seems likely to be overshadowed and overtaken by QPR’s new, imposing triumvirate: motor-racing men Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone and now one of the richest men in the world in steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and his vast company. But at present, Rangers, for all their activity in the transfer market, are not going for the major stars.
But De Canio, having guided them away from relegation, could well be soon in receipt of massive financial backing. By the time QPR come back to Stamford Bridge, who knows what stars may glitter in their ranks? Shades of the days when Rangers were pipped only on the post for the championship by Liverpool in 1975-76, when they lost so fatefully on a goalkeeping error at Norwich.
Chelsea v QPR: the world's richest derby
The men who own the west London rivals have a combined wealth of over £32 billion. Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea squad was assembled for £227m. Andriy Shevchenko is their costliest signing at £30.8m, the same sum QPR owner Lakshmi Mittal paid for his daughter’s wedding. QPR splashed out only £3.8m on their squad, but with Mittal, Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore taking over last year the balance of power could be about to shift.
LAKSHMI MITTAL
Age 57
Worth £19.25 billion The Indian steel magnate topped the Sunday Times Rich List last year and is reputedly the world’s 5 fth richest man. He began with the family firm in Calcutta, but with his father’s backing founded his own steel plant. By the mid1980s he was a serious player in the world market. He now lives in London while keeping his Indian passport. He paid a world record £70m for a private house when he bought Bernie Ecclestone’s London home
FLAVIO BRIATORE
Age 57
Worth £110m The poor relation of the Loftus Road trio. Briatore, managing director of Renault’s F1 team, counts many of the world’s jet set among his friends ... supermodel Naomi Campbell, right, was his guest at a recent QPR match. He made his fortune as a business partner of Luciano Benetton, founder of the Italian clothing company. Briatore was later convicted of fraud and headed for the Virgin Islands rather than serve a jail sentence. As MD of Benetton’s F1 team, he won two world titles with Michael Schumacher. Joining Renault, he won two further titles with Fernando Alonso. Also involved in fashion and pharmaceuticals
BERNIE ECCLESTONE
Age 77
Worth £2.25 billion CVC, a private equity giant, bought control of Formula One in 2005 and set up a new company, Alpha Prema, to run the sport, appointing Ecclestone as chief executive. He made his fortune from TV rights and F1 spin-offs. He also donates about £50m a year to charity
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH
Age 41
Worth £10.8 billion Abramovich, Britain’s second richest man, started in Moscow making cheap plastic products.
His career took off when he bought the Sibneft oil company with Boris Berezovsky in 1995 for £120m. Ten years later Sibneft was sold, earning Abramovich and his partners about £7.5 billion
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------QPR unsettle neighbours Chelsea
By Clive White
Chelsea (1) 1 Queens Park Rangers (0) 0
So in the end all that separated the haves and the have-soons was an own goal. Rangers' new billionaire owners could be excused for thinking that success in this football business could come wonderfully cheaply, if the laboured efforts of their supposedly upper class West London neighbours was anything to go by here.
Make no mistake, the FA Cup holders were hanging on at the finish against the lowly Championship side. They even had to bring on three of their biggest players, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole, to ensure that they were not subjected to the dubious pleasure of a replay at Loftus Road.
Rangers have been busy in the transfer market lately, but there was little that Messrs Ecclestone, Mittal and Briatore will have seen here to make them think they need to shop anywhere else but in the bargain basement, at least for a while. Had they been just a little bit bolder, a little bit more accurate in their finishing the Chelsea manager Avram Grant would have not have able to hide quite so smugly behind the defence that they had "done their job".
By their standards, Chelsea, because of injury, may be down to the bare bones but what bones! The fact that Grant could afford to start with the above trio on the bench said all that needed to be said about his side's squad strength and to be fair they have coped splendidly these past few weeks. But the centre-back pairing of Alex and Tel Ben Haim never looked comfortable yesterday and one wonders what might have happened had Steve Sidwell not got back to take the ball off the toes of Gareth Ainsworth after 11 minutes.
In an unfamiliar-looking 4-3-3 formation, with the wingers pushed on and Claudio Pizarro playing deep, one wondered from where this side would get their goals - or goal.
As it happened Pizarro got far enough forward in the 29th minute to work his way across the face of the Rangers goal before finding space for a shot. The ball struck the foot of Lee Camp's post, but unfortunately for Rangers the rebound went back in off the diving keeper.
Just once did we see the real Chelsea in one quick, slick move just before half-time when Shaun Wright-Phillips fed Salomon Kalou who in turn teed it up for Sidwell, but the former Reading midfielder's shot cannoned back into play off an upright. If anyone thought the loss of Rangers's influential new signing Akos Buzsaky just five minutes into the second half with a sprained ankle would unhinge the visitors they could not have been more wrong. It proved the prelude to Rangers's best passage of play in the game as Martin Rowlands, twice finding himself in space, unleashed drives dangerously close to the target.
The truth is for all the plaudits given by Grant to Henrique Hilario after the game his third-choice keeper didn't have a save worthy of the name to make throughout. Chelsea, for the part, had just one real chance to make the game safe, but Pizarro, for reasons known only to himself, took the ball far too wide before checking inside and firing over. With Drogba now off to African Cup of Nations, the arrival of Nicolas Anelka from Bolton cannot come soon enough.
Man of the matchMartin Rowlands (QPR)
• With a little more accuracy he might have been a hero
Match details
Chelsea: Hilario, Ferreira, Ben-Haim, Alex, Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips (Joe Cole 79), Obi, Sidwell, Sinclair (Drogba 60), Kalou, Pizarro (Ballack 71).Subs: Taylor, Belletti.Goal: Camp 28 og.QPR: Camp, Hall, Stewart, Barker, Ainsworth (Agyemang 46), Connolly, Mahon, Rowlands, Ephraim (Balanta 65), Blackstock, Buzsaky (Lee 50).Subs: Bolder, Walton. Booked: Hall. Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 1 QPR 0: Rangers annoy the neighbours but cannot cash in on their chance By Glenn Moore at Stamford Bridge "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" – Matthew 19:24. No one knows, until they shuffle off this mortal coil, whether St Matthew is right, and Premier League footballers will spend eternity with their faces pressed up against the Pearly Gates, but on this earthlyrealm having a few bob has its advantages, especially when it comes to lifting the FA Cup.
The last time a club outside the "Big Four" won the competition was in 1995, and Everton were then still clinging to the notion that they were part of the "Big Five". That quintet also included Tottenham, but not Chelsea. Since then, Roman Abramovich's riches have enabled Chelsea to gatecrash the elite. Yesterday, however, the Russian's club entertained a man with even deeper pockets. Lakshmi Mittal, who owns a fifth of QPR, has a fortune estimated at £19 billion, enough to make even Abramovich (estimated worth £10.8bn) feel envious. With Mittal joined in the QPR boardroom by a fellow billionaire, Bernie Ecclestone, and mere millionaire, Flavio Briatore, Rangers fans are dreaming not of emulating their west London neighbours, but of overtaking them.
Yesterday they were forced to settle for worrying the FA Cup holders, who were not exactly an advertisement for high spending and big names. As Avram Grant said, "We did our job". It was, though, graft, not art. Having been given a fortuitous lead through Lee Camp's 28th-minute own goal Chelsea, injuries not-withstanding, should have eased past their Championship neighbours. Instead they laboured to victory even after the reinforcement of stellar substitutes DidierDrogba, Michael Ballack andJoe Cole.
"That they had to bring them on showed we did our job well," said Luigi De Canio, Rangers' manager. He added: "I'm very satisfied with the performance. It shows we are progressing."
To judge from De Canio's purchases so far, progress is intended to be steady rather than spectacular. QPR's new owners have been spending enthusiastically in the transfer window, but the investment is in quantity rather than quality. The immediate aim looks to be a competent Championship side rather than a Champions' League-winning one. The seven acquisitions to date are a mixture of promising youngsters, like Hogan Ephraim, and old sweats such as Fitz Hall.
No one, in short, to get excitedabout. Has no one told them Dimitar Berbatov wants a move or, failing that, Jermain Defoe?
Five new recruits took the field at the Bridge, with the others on the bench, although since several had previously played on loan, the Hoops were not the collection of strangers that might be imagined. If anything Chelsea were the team making the dressing-room introductions.
With the spine of the team injured, and others rested, Avram Grant fielded a reserve-string central defence and occasional starters Steve Sidwell, Scott Sinclair and Claudio Pizarro. The latter was bizarrely withdrawn into midfield early on with the wingers pushed up to make4-3-3. More interesting than any name on the teamsheet was that of Didier Drogba among the substitutes. The Ivorian is just back from a knee operation and about to head for Ghana for the African Nations Cup.
These patchwork teams inevitably produced a match of only sporadic interest. In the opening quarter neither side mustered a shot on goal, the most noteworthy moment coming after Shaun Wright-Phillips blazed wide. The Rangers fans sang: "We won't be buying you."
Then, as the half-hour approached, Salomon Kalou squared for Pizarro, who driftedacross a challenge and shot from the edge of the box. The ball struck the post, rebounded against the diving Camp, and trickled over the line. Chelsea looked to settle the tie but Wright-Phillips dipped a drive just over the bar, then Sidwell finished a flowing move by drilling against the far post.
QPR played more positively after the break but were unable to capitalise on that reprieve. Though the busy Martin Rowlands fizzed a shot over, Rangers never suggested they would actually score. Still, that deficiency will be resolved when they sign Samuel Eto'o, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.
Wide open window
QPR's spending spree:
Gavin Mahon (Watford) £200,000
Fitz Hall (Wigan) Undisclosed
Patrick Agyemang (Preston) £350,000
Akos Buzsaky (Plymouth) ex-loan
Hogan Ephraim (West Ham) ex-loan, £800,000
Matthew Connolly (Arsenal) ex-loan
Kieran Lee (Manchester United) loan
About to sign:
Rowan Vine (Birmingham)
Stefan Postma (ADO Den Haag, Holl)
Sebastian Rusculleda (Tigre, Arg)
Linked with:
Daryl Murphy (Sunderland)
Robbie Savage (Blackburn)
Bobo Balde (Celtic)
Leroy Lita (Reading)
Dean Brill (Luton)
Wayne Routledge (Tottenham)
Dan Shittu (Watford)
Martin Taylor (Birmingham)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Same old currency as fortune favours Blues
Duncan Castles at Stamford BridgeSunday January 6, 2008The Observer
New money in west London, same old result. The steel-smelted and petrol-headed dollars swirling around Queens Park Rangers might some day, some place, purchase a team capable of exposing all the flaws in Roman Abramovich's strategy for football supremacy, but this was not the day and the place was not Stamford Bridge. QPR, taken over in September by two Formula One money men and refinanced last month by an Indian billionaire, are on their way back to the top tier of English football. Their half-rebuilt team may still be one of Championship stalwarts and Premier League fringe players, their football not yet astute enough to undo even a weakened Chelsea and the club's uncertain manager, but they still managed to set a few home pulses racing.
There was a period of pressure in the penalty area that threatened to put QPR on their way to their first win at Stamford Bridge in 21 years, while Chelsea relied on a goal that bounced off a defender, post and goalkeeper to book their place in the fourth round. There was also an expectation that Rangers will be not only as rich, but as competitive as Chelsea in the near future. 'I hope it will not be too long,' said manager Luigi De Canio. 'The issue is not coming here to play Chelsea again, it is more being able to come here and play Chelsea on a level playing field - and match them.'
Such optimism is easier when the estimated £25billion wealth of the world's fifth richest man is behind you. Lakshmi Mittal was here, observing the club he purchased 20 per cent of at the end of last year, joining Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore in a plan to construct a west London super club with access to resources as grand as Abramovich's.
They will not follow the carousel spending of the Russian's first months in London. January should mean £10million invested to secure QPR's Championship status. The summer will bring further spending on players capable of taking them into the Premier League by 2009.
Five days of this transfer window brought seven signings - Fitz Hall and Matthew Connolly starting in defence, Hogan Ephraim at left wing and Gavin Mahon in midfield. Two more, Patrick Agyemang and Kieran Lee, waited on the bench. Chelsea rotated even more heavily, with Ashley Cole the most intriguing return at left-back, complete with his first captain's armband.
While the early minutes brought a string of Chelsea set pieces - one frighteningly fumbled by Lee Camp - the red-and-black hoops steadily began to work themselves into threatening positions. Chelsea were scrappy; Avram Grant increasingly red faced.
So sluggish around the training ground that his team-mates call him 'Lee Trundle', Claudio Pizarro was slow to crossed balls, failing to connect properly with two fine deliveries - but he was about to be blessed with good fortune. On 28 minutes, he was granted enough space to turn on goal and release a shot that careered off marker, post and the back of Camp's head before slowly creeping over the line.
De Canio's response was the interval introduction of Agyemang, followed soon afterwards by the enforced replacement of a limping Akos Buzsaky with Lee. Agyemang outjumped Tal Ben-Haim at a corner, forcing John Obi Mikel into hurried remedial work. Lee then shot narrowly over from 20 yards. Suddenly, QPR were streaming at Chelsea and efforts from Martin Rowlands and Agymenang stretched Hilario.
Pizarro lofted wastefully over when played in on Camp and Grant invoked the Didier Drogba-shaped insurance policy on his bench, the Ivory Coast striker almost converting his first header back after knee surgery. Control returning, the manager continued to flash owner's cash, swapping Michael Ballack for the flagging Pizarro.
QPR supporters read the message. 'We've got more cash than you' their collective retort. On came Joe Cole for Chelsea. 'You're just a small team in Fulham,' sang the Hoops.
As Grant argued that, in the Cup, results are more important than performances, they could leave the Bridge hoping one day the jibe will ring true.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Chelsea limp through as QPR are hit on the reboundChelsea 1 Queens Park Rangers 0
By MALCOLM FOLLEY
In the vernacular of their Formula One owners, Queens Park Rangers calamitously drove themselves off the road at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire ringmaster of F1's global circus, and Flavio Briatore, the multi-millionaire Renault team principal, watched in despair from the directors' box as Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp ushered FA Cup holders Chelsea into the fourth round with a freak own-goal.
In truth, Ecclestone and Briatore probably have had more entertainment witnessing a pit-stop in a grand prix than from the dour, technical duel that unfolded without accompanying drama. Yet there was a reason for them to be proud men last night.
Fitz Hall, Matthew Connolly and substitutes Patrick Agyemang and Kieran Lee all made their debuts for Rangers, while Gavin Mahon started for the first time, so it was beyond even the dreams of rich men to suppose that a team still gaining acquaintance with one another could embarrass their illustrious west London neighbours.
All Rangers lacked to supplement their industry and organisation was some penetration in the final third of the pitch.
One day, Ecclestone, Briatore and fellow investor Lakshmi Mittal — the richest man in Britain by some way with a fortune of £20billion — imagine themselves being in control of a team capable of acquiring silverware in the manner Chelsea have done with Roman Abramovich.
One day, they might realise that ambition as these are not the kind of men associated with failure.
Abramovich was not present to host Briatore and Ecclestone, but the Russian is poised to grant Chelsea manager Avram Grant access to his cheque book to extend his investment past £500million in the coming days.
The club's acute injury list and demands this month of the African Cup of Nations on four players — Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou (both Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Ghana) and John Mikel Obi (Nigeria) — left Grant to admit last night: "Basically, we didn't want to change much as we have a good squad, but now we must think of everything."
He declined to fuel mounting speculation that striker Nicolas Anelka is soon to arrive from Bolton, along with Branislav Ivanovic, a 23-year-old Serbian international defender currently playing for Lokomotiv Moscow. "I will not speak about any players until they are signed," he said.
What is apparent is that the cavalry is being assembled over the hill as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele remain sidelined through injury.
Mikel is being allowed to make a delayed departure to play in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Everton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, when Ricardo Carvalho will return from suspension.
"Our goalkeepers (Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini) are also both close to fitness," said Grant.
Yesterday, Grant had the luxury of introducing Drogba, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole from the bench.
As Ecclestone and Briatore would readily acknowledge, these are players with the power, status and sheer class; footballing men with the feel of a Ferrari.
Drogba's cameo appearance, climaxed with a powerful last minute shot, reminded Chelsea supporters of the edge missing from the team since he was injured on the first day of December.
He left the field bare-chested and applauding the fans who hailed his return, no matter how brief that is to prove as he answers the call of his country.
These are curious times for Rangers, a club that was not that long ago on the breadline and under threat of total meltdown.
In August 2005, then-chairman Gianni Paladini was allegedly held at gunpoint in a club office during a game as a boardroom power struggle resembled a plot from an episode of New Jersey crime family, The Sopranos.
Then, suddenly, from out of a clear blue sky appeared Briatore and Ecclestone.
Still, the omens for Rangers were not bright as they met Chelsea for the first time in a dozen seasons.
Rangers last won an FA Cup tie seven years ago,and their prospects of a change of fortune disappeared in the 28th minute. Having not once previously menaced the Rangers goal, Camp found himself diving to his right to try to cover a snap-shot from Claudio Pizarro. When the ball struck a post, it rebounded against Camp's still-outstretched arm and rolled slowly, ever so slowly, over the line.
Rangers' commendable captain, Martin Rowlands, struck a rising second-half shot over Chelsea's crossbar, but the chequered flag, rather than the white flag, signalled the end for Briatore and Ecclestone's first quest for footballing fame. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
CAMP WOE
CHELSEA 1 CAMP(OG) 28 QPR 0 Own goal is enough for Blues Paul Smith At Stamford Bridge 06/01/2008
The fa Cup holders stumbled into the fourth round courtesy of a 28th-minute own goal by QPR keeper Lee Camp.
Crippling injuries forced Blues boss Avram Grant to field a depleted team against their Championship neighbours.
A game of few chances only came to life when Claudio Pizarro cut in from the left and fired a shot against the post that came back out, hit Camp and trickled across the line.
Afterwards Grant insisted the result was far more important than the performance, saying: "We have had to contend with quite a few injuries so under the circumstances the game didn't surprise me.
"We did our job and that was the most important thing. I accept we should have created a few more chances but we held the ball most of the time and scored the only goal. I didn't think there was much of a threat from our opponents - they defended deep and relied on setplays to cause us any problems."
Rangers boss Luigi Di Canio admitted: "It was more or less what I expected. Chelsea are a great team and although we tried to have an impact on the match it was very difficult.
"Nonetheless I was very pleased with the performance and it shows we are making progress. It's never nice to lose but they are not the holders for nothing."
Chelsea went into the match with several key players missing.
No such problems for Rangers, though, who have recruited no fewer than seven players since the transfer window opened six days ago.
Four of them, Gavin Mahon, Hogan Ephraim, Matthew Connolly and Fitz Hall, all made their full debuts while three more occupied a place on the Rangers bench.
Even with the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Andriy Shevchenko and Flourent Malouda missing from the starting line-up, Chelsea's superiority began to tell early on.
Yet for all their possession the opening 25 minutes passed without the Blues seriously threatening a goal.
Even a succession of corners failed to create anything worthwhile for the home side and while Rangers looked content to sit deep and invite Chelsea to come at them, they comfortably managed any attacking threat.
The first time anyone came close to breaking the deadlock was in the 27th minute when Paulo Ferreira's cross just evaded Scott Sinclair at the far post. The let-off was brief though.
Barely 60 seconds later Chelsea went in front. Pizarro cut in from the left and evaded two markers before unleashing a low drive that flew in off Camp after hitting the post.
QPR's first attempt on goal came as late as the 37th minute. But Gareth Ainsworth's tame header was never going to trouble Hilario in the home goal.
The half closed with Chelsea well on top. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Salomon Kalou came close to increasing the home side's lead before Steve Sidwell unleashed a vicious drive that came flying back off the post.
The Blues continued where they had left off after the break, but against the run of play Rangers' Martin Rowlands fired just over the bar.
In the 60th minute the home crowd rose to applaud Drogba, who came on as sub barely weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
But even the introduction of Michael Ballack and Joe Cole some 10 minutes later failed to inject any life into an uninspiring game.
STAT ATTACK
STORY OF THE GAME
CHELSEA QPR
66% POSSESSION 34%
4 SHOTS ON TARGET 1
6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 2
8 CORNERS 0
13 FOULS CONCEDED 9
3 OFFSIDES 0
0 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
HOW THEY RATED
CHELSEA
Hilario 7, Cole 7, Sidwell 6, Mikel 7, PIZARRO 8 (Ballack 7), Sinclair 7 (Drogba 7), Ferreira 7, Kalou 6, Ben-Haim 7, Wright-Phillips 6 (Cole 7), Alex 6.
Manager Grant 7
QPR
Camp 7, Barker 6, Mahon 6, Stewart 6, Blackstock 7, Buzsaky 7 (Lee 6), Ainsworth 6 (Agyemang 6), Rowlands 7, Connolly 7, Ephraim 5 (Balanta 6), Hall 7.
Manager De Canio 6
Referee M Dean 8
HEAD TO HEAD
Steve Sidwell v MARTIN ROWLANDS
While Sidwell struggled to impact on the game, Rowlands was inspirational and twice came close to scoring for the visitors
Man of the MATCH
CLAUDIO
PIZARRO
In a game of widespread mediocrity, Chelsea striker Pizzaro just about wins the honour by virtue of his shot that led to the own goal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------