qpr 1-0

Independent:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1

Mata books Chelsea's passage as neighbours refuse to make a fuss
Not even a controversial penalty fans the flames as players avoid pre-match handshake and remain on best behaviour in wake of Terry-Ferdinand affair

GLENN MOORE LOFTUS ROAD

There was no handshake, and precious little football either, at Loftus Road yesterday as a promising FA Cup tie was suffocated by the controversy surrounding it. So determined were both teams to avoidfurther inflaming the tension provoked by John Terry's alleged use of racist language towards Anton Ferdinand in their last meeting that QPR even accepted with only moderate anger the highly dubious penalty award which settled the match in Chelsea's favour.
The spot-kick, converted by Juan Mata on the hour, was given after Daniel Sturridge fell dramatically to the floor after Clint Hill made mild contact with his back. QPR, who beat Chelsea here in thrilling circumstances in October, never looked like levelling and can now return to their relegation battle. For Chelsea, the next items on the agenda are a Premier League match at Swansea on Tuesday, and an appearance at west London magistrates' court for Terry on Wednesday, where he will be formally charged.
If Terry is being affected by the affair it is not showing on the pitch. Yesterday he produced an assured performance, albeit rarely put under pressure by a QPR side overly focused on defence. Ferdinand, whose performances after the incidents faltered, also played well, which was all the more creditable given he was sent a bullet in the post last week.
"I thought Anton conducted himself really, really well, not only this week but for a number of weeks," said Mark Hughes, the QPR manager. "It was important he faced what he had to face, and I'm pleased for him. He was right to be concerned by the content of the letter. I read it and it wasn't particularly nice."
Andre Villas-Boas was equally complimentary about Terry, who was abused throughout by the home support. The Chelsea manager said: "He had an excellent performance, very, very focused. Off-field events were out of his mind and he concentrated on events on the pitch."
Only once did the verbal taunts threaten to spill over into something more sinister, a fan throwing the match ball into Ashley Cole's back as Chelsea prepared to take a throw-in. The refer-ee, Mike Dean, intervened, asking the nearest steward to speak to the man involved. There were no arrests, then or elsewhere in the ground, for which both clubs and the FA will be grateful.
It may have helped that there was not much to get excited about for the game was dire, especially in a lifeless first half. QPR, despite the small capacity of Loftus Road, failed to sell out this west London derby, and the fans who stayed away made the right decision. Hughes has made great play of the fact he has given his new team greater organisation and yesterday he praised his players' work-rate and defensive discipline.
Yet QPR have lost the attacking intent they had under Neil Warnock and only twice exercised Petr Cech. Once was in the seventh minute of injury time, when he parried Luke Young's shot, the other, after 59 minutes, led indirectly to Chelsea's goal.
Shaun Wright-Phillips beat Cole on the right and fired in a rasping shot, which Cech parried perilously close to Tommy Smith. It fell instead to Ramires, who run deep into QPR territory. The move broke down but was resuscitated, and Mata crossed towards Sturridge. Hill nudged the striker in the back and he tumbled to the deck with enthusiasm.
"It was very harsh," said Hughes. "Mike Dean will be disappointed when he sees the decision he's given. He told Paddy Kenny he had to give it as [Sturridge] was going to head the ball, but that was not my view." Chelsea lost to a similar, if more obvious, penalty in October and Villas-Boas said: "We were treated unfairly then, maybe QPR were treated unfairly [today]."
Chelsea fielded a full-strength team and Villas-Boas confirmed afterwards that, with the Premier League title looking out of reach, he was aiming to win the FA Cup. His team produced, as he said, "a good solid display" but lacked panache. Fernando Torres looked to have regressed, Mata only occasionally influenced play and Sturridge continually turned inside, on to his favoured foot but into trouble.
Worryingly, Ramires, who did provide energy, departed on a stretcher late on. The QPR fans suspended hostilities and clapped him off. He was diagnosed with medial ligament damage, but Chelsea hope the Brazilian will be back within a month.
There was one effort on goal in the opening half and that followed a mistake, Mata testing Kenny with a fierce shot. The second half offered little more, with Chelsea largely happy to knock the ball around the back four and QPR, even after falling behind, usually prepared to let them.
With Heidar Helguson suffering a muscle injury, Joey Barton quiet and Akos Buzsaky finding the game rather harder than he had against Wigan last week, QPR lacked firepower.
Hughes will doubtless renew his efforts to add to his squad in the closing days of the transfer window. "The disappointment was that we were unable to build on our defensive platform and attack," he said.

QPR (4-4-2): Kenny; Young, Hall, Ferdinand, Hill; Mackie, Buzsaky (Hulse, 80), Barton, Wright-Phillips; Smith, Helguson (Macheda, h/t).
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires (Romeu, 79), Meireles, Malouda; Sturridge, Torres, Mata (Essien, 90).

Referee: Mike Dean.
Man of the match: Ramires (Chelsea)
Match rating: 3/10
Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 1 (Mata, pen)

Spotlight on John Terry
So what happened to the handshake?
There was no formal handshake between the teams after QPR's players said they would refuse to shake hands with John Terry as a gesture of solidarity with AntonFerdinand. Terry did, however, shake the hand of Joey Barton the QPR captain at the coin toss, and those of the match officials. After the game, Barton (pictured) was again the only QPR player whose hand he shook.
How did the fans greet his first touch?
He was booed throughout by QPR fans, but as the match wore on the venom in the booing dropped. There was also a series of chants directed at Terry and his family, some too unsavoury to print. They included: 'John Terry, we know what you said'. The Chelsea fans cheered him.
Did he have any arguments with anybody on the pitch?
None whatsoever. The game was surprisingly bereft of confrontations between players.
How did he play?
Very well. If not quite flawless, Terry won the majority of his headers, tracked his man, won most of his tackles, generally distributed the ball well and made no serious errors.


=========================

Observer:

QPR point fingers at Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge over decisive penalty
Jamie Jackson at Loftus Road

After the phantom handshake, this FA Cup tie barely lit up and had only one potential powderkeg moment, which was happily a good old-fashioned football incident: the disputed Juan Mata penalty that won the game.
On an incessantly sour and hostile afternoon, it was Daniel Sturridge who caused the one moment of on-field acrimony. When he went down close to Clint Hill in the area from a Mata cross just after the hour Mike Dean pointed to the spot. But the left-back's furious verbal volley at Sturridge, plus video replays, suggested that the forward had fashioned a swallow dive and – as Joey Barton of Queens Park Rangers continued to debate the matter with the forward – Mata stepped up to slot home.
"Cheat! Cheat!" was the livid cry from the home congregation, the latest choral offering in a tie peppered with the obscene chants and boos that can form the alternative soundtrack to John Terry's fine football career.
Both managers had their own takes on the game-turning moment. André Villas-Boas chose to harp back to Chelsea's 1-0 Premier League defeat here in October when both José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba were sent off and David Luiz conceded the penalty that allowed QPR the victory.
The manager said: "Well, they reacted angrily of course. QPR were not satisfied with the penalty, Mike [Dean] has given it, I think if you guys can recall it's very, very similar to the David Luiz/Heidar Helguson [incident] here – and you pointed the finger quite quickly at David Luiz for his mistake. We finished the game in the league here with nine men and [were] treated unfairly so maybe QPR this time got treated unfairly and we ended up winning the game."
Mark Hughes offered this view: "Obviously I'm disappointed with the decision on the penalty, it was very harsh on us, I felt.
"Mike Dean will be a little bit disappointed when he sees what decision he's given because I think he's said to Paddy Kenny that he had to give the penalty because the lad was going to head the ball in, which wasn't my take on it to be perfectly honest.
"I just felt Daniel Sturridge went down a little bit easy and unfortunately for us he's given the penalty which at that point I thought was probably one of our better periods in the game, when I think we just had a strike on goal and [Petr] Cech made a good save. Then, they went up the other end and the penalty was awarded. So we're disappointed we didn't get any reward, albeit we probably didn't do enough to win but we felt we could very easily have got the draw."
This was a markedly rose-hued perspective from Hughes regarding a side who were too agricultural in approach and who lacked any technical brilliance – the odd Shaun Wright-Phillips flourish apart – and the giveaway of this came in the Welsh manager's praise being littered with functional-speak.
"We worked exceptionally hard in terms of having discipline and making sure we have a good defensive shape, and we worked exceptionally hard this week on making sure we had a good platform to go in the opposite direction to create chances," Hughes said, before a smattering of home truth was offered: "In fairness, that was the only disappointment – that we weren't able to retain possession higher up the field after defending so well."
Luke Young had made the first mistake of many for QPR when a cleared Barton free-kick came to him and his attempted return of the ball to the Chelsea area found only Fernando Torres, near the D. The striker instantly passed to Mata and though this was short, Young compounded his initial error by sliding and failing to clear the danger.
This allowed the Spaniard to zoom down the inside-left channel at Kenny's goal before he let fly a shot that the keeper parried well.
The odd corner apart, this fourth-round match was then a generally and disappointedly insipid affair, Ramires – until he was injured – and the balletic zest of Fernando Torres offering the punters what entertainment there was.
More than once Torres drifted to the edge of the QPR area and executed a soft-shoe shuffle that seemed to pull enough space to him for him to produce a cross that was begging to be converted by a team-mate.
"The excellent positive today was our change from the first half to the second," Villas-Boas said. "We looked dominant during the whole game but maybe first half we were a bit one-paced. The amount of attack we created eventually got the penalty situation. It was a good solid display."
Near the end, Young unloaded a shot that Cech saved brilliantly with his legs. It would have secured the draw Hughes claimed would have been fair but the result was the right one.
Ramires's injury was serious enough that there were seven minutes of added time. The Chelsea midfielder may be out for a month with a knee injury apparently sustained when the ball struck him in the second half.

=====================

Telegraph:

Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 1
By Jason Burt, at Loftus Road

The Football Association cancelled the pre-match handshakes because of the maelstrom surrounding Anton Ferdinand and John Terry and, unfortunately, somewhere along the way the football appeared to have been cancelled also.
For an hour this was a spiky FA Cup fourth-round tie, a west London derby between bitter rivals with rancorous history, that somehow transformed itself into a turgid encounter of the most questionable quality.
Then there were two minutes in which the pulses raced and controversy reigned. QPR went close to scoring and then Chelsea took the lead through a penalty that simply should never have been given. And the tie then drifted to its end.
Chelsea will feel a sweet pang of revenge having lost the Premier League match between the two sides in October, by the same scoreline and through another penalty that they – with less justification – claimed should never have been awarded.
There was then, of course, the eruption of investigation and allegation surrounding what Terry was accused of saying to Ferdinand with the case now imminently in the courts.
Juan Mata’s cross, after a strong run by Ramires, was aimed towards Daniel Sturridge. The striker fell to the turf, however, with Clint Hill beside him and the QPR defender immediately remonstrated, accusing Sturridge of diving as he had also accused him of doing moments earlier.
To Hill’s horror, referee Mike Dean judged differently. The penalty was given and Mata scored. “Mike Dean will be very disappointed when he looks at that again,” said QPR manager Mark Hughes, choosing his words with care.
“I just felt Sturridge went down a little bit easily. Dean said he had to give it because the lad was going to head the ball.”
In truth, Mata’s cross was sailing over Sturridge and, in any case, there did not appear to be a push.
Joey Barton later observed Sturridge behaved as if he had stepped on a “landmine” and added that bad decisions are “ruining the game”.
But Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas could not resist pointing out that the last time Chelsea were here they also had two men dismissed and did not garner sympathy.
This win meant much to him and he is now ramping up the FA Cup as a competition his team can win.
Returning from their training camp in Mallorca, and without the injured Frank Lampard, Villas-Boas fielded his strongest available side, although they lost Ramires with a medial ligament problem that could rule him out for a month. QPR needed a striker, especially with Heider Helguson again departing injured.
There was no menace yesterday, beyond the stands, and even much of that was pantomime stuff, and precious little from Chelsea either with Fernando Torres taking two steps backwards – apart from a couple of clever runs – after the progress made in recent weeks. In the first period, little of note occurred beyond the odd registering of chants about Terry’s parentage.
It really was that uneventful. Chelsea had control but could not kill the game. Crosses were over-hit, passes misplaced, runs went unread.
Torres teed up Sturridge, after a fine dribble, but he blasted over and then, soon after, fell to the ground claiming a trip by Hill who was, not for the last time, furious with him.
Then Shaun Wright-Phillips burst into the area and hit a cross-shot that Petr Cech beat out and Jamie Mackie waved a leg at, when he should have driven it back into the net, wasting a glorious opportunity.
Chelsea broke away – and Sturridge 'won’ the penalty. Could QPR reply? It never appeared likely. There wasn’t the stomach from either club for a replay and the closest it came to being forced was deep into added time when the ball broke wide to Young whose half-volley was well-judged by Cech who pushed it away.
Terry and Ferdinand proved to be, probably, the game’s best two performers. Both defended immaculately with Terry unflappable – as he can sometimes be in cases of adversity – and Ferdinand imperious.
They both, also, studiously avoided each other at the final whistle with Ferdinand completing a circuit of the pitch to thank the QPR supporters – and Terry thumping his chest before the 3,000 visiting fans.
He hugged Sturridge also, in congratulation, much to the fierce annoyance of the QPR contingent. That final whistle felt like a relief. For everyone.

=====================

Mail:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1: A grubby, tawdry, ugly day... and the football matched the occasion
By PATRICK COLLINS

The abuse had pursued John Terry through the afternoon, and the screeches assaulted his ears as the final whistle sounded. He looked around for the only Rangers player likely to shake his hand, and Joey Barton obliged. Terry walked across to his own fans, flinging his arm around Michael Essien. Then he left the pitch, stroking the head of Daniel Sturridge.It was a curious display, one which carried the whiff of choreography. But then, it had been a curious day: grubby; depressing; one which aroused tawdry passions and ugly emotions. Amid it all, there was a football match of sorts. A desperately poor game involving two mediocre sides enduring a bad day. Chelsea, marginally the better, won it with one of the most dubious penalties Mike Dean has ever awarded.'Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!' screamed the QPR fans at Sturridge. It was one of the more genteel sounds that we heard. As for Rangers, they launched their most promising attack in the 97th minute, which says much about their sense of adventure and their level of performance. Both managers entered into the spirit of the occasion by spouting a stream of public relations platitudes. Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas, who had delivered an impertinent lecture on the day before the match, when he insisted that everybody should shake Terry's hand for reasons of 'respect', now described the decision to scrap the handshakes as 'wise'.He also offered the view that 'emotions were kept low', suggesting that his command of English is less secure than we imagined. Mark Hughes, of QPR, was equally unconvincing. He thought the handshake decision was 'absolutely right', and came close to suggesting the whole affair had been concocted by the media. 'If it's not done in the right spirit, why do it at all?' he asked. He also thought that Terry had been 'very professional'.What he could not admit was his relief that Rangers were out of the Cup, so that they can now concentrate on saving themselves in the Premier League. Which is, of course, the reason for employing him. But you could not really blame him, since official candour was in short supply at Loftus Road yesterday. There was, however, no shortage of vile, clamorous, degrading insults from all sides of the ground. Most were aimed at Terry and almost all cannot be repeated here.The trite wisdom insists that the Chelsea captain thrives in such circumstances, that this kind of poison somehow brings out the best in him. It speaks of a thick skin and a strong character, we are regularly informed.It also speaks of a man who is not strong on sensitivity. The mildest accused him of the solitary vice, the most pernicious cited his family. On it went, over and over. You could see grown men standing and thinking of their next squalid ditty, the next gutter jibe. It felt like some ritual humiliation, like Celebrity Big Brother or one of those talent shows involving Simon Cowell. But Terry paid it no heed. Sometimes, he almost seems to court attention. He plugged on impassively, playing his mundane 10-yard passes, knowing that Rangers could offer nothing to discomfort him. His expression never changed. He has been there before, he knows how it works. 'Stand up if you hate John Terry!' came the chant. Everybody stood. Terry never noticed.Meanwhile, the 3,114 away fans, bored by the abject football, made an attempt to demean their humble surroundings. 'What a s***hole!' they sang. Meaning 'we've got an oligarch but you've only got a pauper of a multi-millionaire'.They were still singing by half-time, nothing of the remotest import having happened on the field. We waited a full hour for the goal, and it seemed curiously appropriate in its shabbiness. A rare Rangers initiative had broken down when Chelsea constructed their counterattack. The ball was worked swiftly forward, and Juan Mata lifted a hopeful cross. Clint Hill challenged with Sturridge, who fell with implausible drama. The linesman, in a relevant position, did nothing, but Dean was suitably conned. Mata's penalty was the most efficient accomplishment of the day. 'Anton, Anton what's the score?' chanted the sophisticates at the visitors' end. They chanted it repeatedly, as if sheer perseverance would make it sound witty. And that was about that, except for a worrying knee injury suffered by Ramires as he sought to block a drive, and a fine save by Petr Cech from the substitute Rob Hulse, with the match effectively over. 'One England captain, there's only one England captain,' chorused the visitors. And they are right, for the moment, at least. The Rangers fans responded with a fresh and fouler blast. The marketing men go to immoderate lengths to persuade us that the game has changed, that the bad days are far behind, that we are enjoying an elevated spectator experience. Sadly, that was not how it felt in West London yesterday, when Chelsea reached the fifth round of the FA Cup. And nobody seemed to care.

============================

Mirror:

QPR 0-1 Chelsea
By Paul Smith

John Terry was subjected to a torrent of abuse by QPR fans – but the Chelsea captain had the last laugh as a questionable penalty enabled his side to go through to the fifth round.
The controversial return of the Chelsea and England captain to Loftus Road had predictably dominated the pre-match build-up.
Terry is due in court in three days’ time charged with racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand during ­October’s bad-tempered league clash between the sides at the same ground.
Twenty-four hours before this game the situation was further inflamed when Ferdinand received a package containing a bullet.
Fears a pre-match handshake between the pair would light the touchpaper for an already explosive clash were allayed after QPR’s players collectively decided at an emergency meeting held on Friday night that no player would shake Terry’s hand.
But their planned show of solidarity was scuppered when both clubs and the FA decided to scrap the ­customary handshake to avoid inflaming the ­situation.
It was a decision supported by both managers.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas said: “I was ­informed of the decision about 45 minutes before the game.
“It was wise not to do the handshake because it could have had an effect on what happened in the crowd immediately afterwards.
“So the decision was a sensible one.”
Turning to the game itself, Villas-Boas added: “It was a good, solid display defensively.
“Since losing to Aston Villa, we’ve organised ­ourselves a bit better in defence and we’ve not ­conceded many goals. It’s repaying us and we look more solid now.
“Individually, it was an excellent performance from John Terry. He was very focused. He managed to get the off-the-field events out of his mind and concentrate fully on the game.”
Villas-Boas had little sympathy for Mark Hughes’ side over what appeared to be a soft penalty, converted by Juan Mata after Clint Hill was deemed by referee Mike Dean to have barged over Daniel Sturridge.
Villas-Boas said: “It was similar to the one [Heidar] Helguson won against us in the league. In that game we also finished the match with nine men.”
QPR boss Hughes said: “Cancelling the handshake was absolutely the correct decision. It was a question of avoiding a trouble situation.
“There was so much tension hinging on such a brief ­moment in time that it was clouding the issue.
“We had a meeting of management and players last night. Chelsea had their views and we all came to the same decision.”
Nonetheless, Terry didn’t escape unscathed. The home fans erupted with deafening boos when he emerged from the Loftus Road tunnel and, subsequently, every time he touched the ball.
When they weren’t booing Terry they goaded the ­defender with some unoriginal chants that had no impact on the centre-back whatsoever. Hughes added: “John’s a big figure in the game and I’m sure he gets booed at every away ground.
“He plays the same way. Headlines don’t affect JT and that was the same today. He was professional.
“And I thought Anton conducted himself really well. For him to come through that gave him great credit. He put in a tremendous performance.
As for the penalty decision, Hughes said: “I think Mike Dean will be a bit disappointed when he sees it again.
“I just felt Daniel Sturridge went down a little bit easily and he has given the penalty at a point that I thought was one of our better periods in the game.
“We worked exceptionally hard today on discipline and making sure we had good defensive shape.
“The only disappointment was that we couldn’t retain possession of the ball higher up the field.”
Chelsea dominated early on against an injury-hit QPR side missing at least five players.
But as poor as QPR were going forward, they were resolute in defence and managed to limit the Blues to a couple of decent chances in the opening 30 minutes.
It didn’t improve in the latter stages of the half either, as Chelsea’s inability to turn possession into chances irritated Villa-Boas in the dugout.
QPR seemed content to soak up pressure while there was no threat on their goal and at the break brought on Manchester United loanee Federico Macheda for Helguson. The change had little effect as Chelsea continued to take the game to QPR.
Chelsea were fast running out of ideas when Mata’s harmless ball into the QPR penalty area led to Hill being harshly adjudged to have bundled over Sturridge. But in fact Chelsea should have had a penalty moments earlier when Hill appeared to trip Sturridge.
Mata stepped up and put away the spot-kick, sparking wild celebrations in the away section of the ground.
QPR tried in vain to get back on level terms and Chelsea’s Ramires appeared to suffer a serious knee injury while attempting to block a shot in the 78th ­minute.
Chelsea stood firm during late pressure from the home side and Luke Young almost secured an undeserved draw for the hosts in injury time, only to be denied by a full-stretch save from Peter Cech.

========================

Sun:

QPR 0 Chelsea 1

JUAN MATA was spot on as Chelsea marched into the fifth round of the FA Cup.
With all the pre-match build-up focusing on Anton Ferdinand possibly snubbing Blues skipper John Terry, the traditional pre-match handshake was scrapped.
And the London derby never really got going until Daniel Sturridge took a tumble in the box, with Mata netting the resulting penalty in the 62nd minute.
As expected, Terry was jeered every time he touched the ball and was also the subject of numerous abusive taunts.
Chelsea fans refrained from using the notorious "Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are" chant, although they did sing "Anton, what's the score?" after the visitors took the lead.
Both sets of supporters cranked up the decibel level before kick-off but had little to cheer in a disappointing first half that saw only one shot on target.
That came after Mata, playing more centrally in the absence of the injured Frank Lampard, pounced on a Luke Young slip in the 12th minute and unleashed a 15-yard drive too close to Paddy Kenny.
Otherwise, the final ball from both sides was sadly lacking, resulting in a succession of speculative efforts that were well off target.
A fixture that had seen Chelsea reduced to nine men in October was also a more controlled affair and it was almost half an hour before Mike Dean brandished the first yellow card for a Shaun Wright-Phillips foul on Raul Meireles.
Ramires should have done better with great cutback opportunity after being released by a wonderful Mata backheel but neither side deserved to be ahead at half-time.
QPR threw on Federico Macheda for Heidar Helguson at the restart as Mark Hughes freshened up his attack.
But it was Chelsea who flew out of the blocks, with Fitz Hall booked for handball before Sturridge lashed over after great work from Fernando Torres.
The game finally exploded into life on the hour mark.
Petr Cech parried a Wright-Phillips cross just too far in front of the outstretched foot of Jamie Mackie and Chelsea surged down the other end to win a penalty.
QPR were furious at the award but Mata shrugged off the jeers to score, the midfielder celebrating with most of his team-mates in front of the visiting fans.
Ashley Cole was then carded for fouling Wright-Phillips before Chelsea lost Ramires to a serious-looking knee injury.
The midfielder appeared to twist his ankle blocking a shot and — after several minutes of treatment — was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced by Oriol Romeu.
By that point QPR had already thrown on Rob Hulse, who was denied a penalty in the dying minutes.
And there was a flashpoint deep into stoppage-time when Romeu was booked for diving in on Hulse, with Young almost snatching a draw when his 20-yard drive was parried by Cech.

QPR: Kenny, Hill, Ferdinand, Hall, Young, Mackie, Buzsaky (Hulse 79), Barton, Wright-Phillips, Helguson (Macheda 46), Smith. Subs not used: Cerny, Orr, Derry, Ephraim, Onuoha.Booked: Wright-Phillips, Hall.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Meireles, Ramires (Romeu 79), Sturridge, Malouda, Mata (Essien 90), Torres. Subs not used: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Lukaku, Cahill, Bertrand. Booked: Cole, Romeu. Goals: Mata 62 pen.
Att: 15,728
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).


============================

Express:

QPR 0 CHELSEA 1: JUAN MATA PENALTY STRIKE SINKS RANGERS

By Gary Jones

JUAN MATA'S hotly-disputed penalty helped Chelsea secure victory in a tempestuous FA Cup fourth-round tie at west London rivals QPR today.
A match that for an hour was completely devoid of the kind of flashpoints that marred October's Barclays Premier League meeting suddenly had one when Clint Hill was harshly adjudged to have bundled over Daniel Sturridge.
Mata stepped up to score the only goal of a game dominated by the reunion between Chelsea captain John Terry and Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, neither of whom put a foot wrong following what had been the most combustible of build-ups.
The match itself was always going to struggle to live up to the drama that preceded it, which culminated in full body searches for fans entering the ground and the cancellation of the traditional pre-match handshake.
The former was prompted after police last night confirmed they were investigating allegations Ferdinand had received "malicious communication", although they refused to reveal whether it contained a bullet.
QPR's Rob Hulse was denied a penalty in the dying minutes
Ferdinand and Terry were spared having to shake hands with each other after the Football Association agreed the clubs did not have to undertake the traditional pre-match ritual.
Ferdinand had reportedly been agonising over whether to accept Terry's hand four days before the court case begins in which the Chelsea and England captain stands accused of racially abusing his fellow defender.
Terry denies the charge, which relates to an altercation between the pair in October's league clash at Loftus Road.
But that did not prevent him being jeered every time he touched the ball today, while he was also the victim of numerous abusive taunts.
Chelsea fans refrained from using the notorious "Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are" chant that they were warned would see them punished, although they did sing "Anton, what's the score?" after the visitors took the lead.
Both sets of supporters cranked up the decibel level before kick-off but had little to cheer in a disappointing first half that saw only one shot on target.
That came after Mata, playing more centrally in the absence of Frank Lampard, pounced on a Luke Young slip in the 12th minute and unleashed a 15-yard drive too close to Paddy Kenny.
Otherwise, the final ball from both sides was sadly lacking, meaning a succession of speculative efforts that were well off target.
A fixture that had seen Chelsea reduced to nine men in October was also a more controlled affair and it was almost half an hour before Mike Dean brandished the first yellow card for a Shaun Wright-Phillips foul on Raul Meireles.
Ramires should have done better with great cutback opportunity after being released by a wonderful Mata backheel but neither side deserved to be ahead at half-time.
QPR threw on Federico Macheda for Heidar Helguson at the restart but it was Chelsea who flew out of the blocks, with Fitz Hall booked for handball before Sturridge lashed over after great work from Fernando Torres.
But the game really exploded into life on the hour mark.
Petr Cech parried a Wright-Phillips cross just too far in front of the outstretched foot of Jamie Mackie and Chelsea surged down the other end and won a penalty.
QPR were furious at the award but Mata shrugged off the jeers to score, the midfielder celebrating with most of his team-mates in front of the visiting fans. Terry was a notable absentee.
Ashley Cole was carded for fouling Wright-Phillips before Chelsea lost Ramires to a serious-looking injury.
The midfielder appeared to twist his ankle blocking a shot and - after several minutes' treatment - was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced by Oriol Romeu.
QPR had already thrown on Rob Hulse, who was denied a penalty in the dying minutes.
And there was a flashpoint deep into stoppage-time when Romeu was booked for diving in on Hulse, with Young almost snatching a draw when his 20-yard drive was parried by Cech.

==================================

Star:

QPR 0 - CHELSEA 1: CAUSING A STURR
By Tony Stenson

THERE were boos, chants, jeers and angry shouts of “cheat” at Loftus Road – but it wasn’t John Terry who was the target.
The QPR fans, who had been ­venting their angerat the Chelsea ­captain, turned their attention to Daniel Sturridge.
They were furious the striker went to ground too easily under pressure from Clint Hill – they were even more annoyed when referee Mike Dean awarded the controversial spot-kick.
Juan Mata scored it to give Chelsea the lead on the hour.
It looked harsh and the home support spent the rest of the game booing Sturridge and chanting “cheat, cheat” at the England star.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas claimed the ­penalty made up for decisions in the league game between the two sides earlier this season.
He said: “It was very similar to events in the league game when we finished with nine men and were treated unfairly.
“QPR reacted angrily to this one but the referee gave it.”
The Portuguese boss was also full of praise for his captain. He said: “I thought Terry was excellent. He kept his mind off all the pre-match events.”
The penalty was a pivotal moment in a game that was always going to contain drama.
Terry left Loftus Road knowing he had led Chelsea into the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
His next big match is in court on Wednesday, to ­answer charges of racially abusing QPR’s Anton ­Ferdinand in a league match in October.
At least we were all spared the shake, or non-shake of the hand between Terry and Ferdinand.
The FA and police decided to allow both clubs to waive the usual pre-match niceties.
Terry was booed and barracked during the warm-up and it continued throughout the game.
You almost felt sorry for him and it’s a true measure of his mental strength that he stayed focused throughout.
There was a heavy police presence outside the ground and inside the atmosphere was hostile – but under control.
No one in Terry’s family was left ignored by tasteless taunts from three sides of Loftus Road.
But the skipper did what he has always done – he was the backbone of Chelsea’s defence.
At the other end, the visitors lacked a cutting edge. It wasn’t until the 35th minute that Raul Meireles, Chelsea’s best player, lashed their first chance over.
Fernando Torres played another minor role, while Mata, despite his goal, seems to have lost the magic he had earlier this season.
On one rare occasion, Torres threatened with a run that took him away from three defenders but he passed to Sturridge who blasted over.
Then the game changed in one controversial minute.
Hill was ajudged to have pushed Sturridge in the box and referee Dean awarded a penalty.
As the home fans hurled abuse at Sturridge, Mata comfortably steered his spot-kick past Paddy Kenny to give Chelsea the lead.
QPR boss Mark Hughes, upset the game’s big decision went against his side, said: “We’re disappointed by the penalty decision.
“The referee said the player was going to head the ball in the goal. I thought it harsh.”
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech saved from Luke Young in the seventh minute of added time – but the Blues saw it out to book their place in the Fifth Round. Just.