Chelsea won a pretty drab affair between the two teams with neither side honestly looking threatening and the game being decided by a contentious penalty. QPR created little until the 98th minute when Luke Young forced Cech into a good save whilst Chelsea continually had possesion of the ball yet were never able to genuinely threaten Paddy Kenny's goal. However the match was marked by events before kickoff where no handshake occured due to guidance from the FA, suggesting that this match was always going to be tainted by the events of the previous game. Kenny 8 MOTM - marshalled the box very well and looked comfortable claiming the ball in the air from set pieces. Made a number of good saves to keep us in the game. Hill 5 - didnt look entirely comfortable and was often beaten down the line. However with the new recruits coming in, it is probably one of the last times he will start for us this season. Gave away a very soft penalty but all replays and pundits will show it wasnt a penalty and was just a poor decision from the ref. Hall 5 - little to do yet looked hopelessly out of his depth on most occasions. Once again with the new recruits, it is unlikely we will see him play for us again this season. Ferdinand 6 - his mind probably wasnt fully focused after some Chelsea scumbag sent a bullet in the post. However gave little chances away and effectively kept Chelsea's front line under wraps. Young 8 - its sad when arguably your most creative player going forward is Luke Young but that once again summed up a lacklustre QPR performance. At the back, looked solid and cleared and once again looked a better winger than SWP. Barton 6 - midfield play was definetly the best of the four however dead balls were beyond atrocious. I cannot think of a corner or free kick that didnt either fail to clear the first man, was hopelessly overhit or was an easy catch for Cech. Generally tackling was significantly less agressive probably due to manager's orders. Buzsaky 5 - Not as good performance as last week yet didnt seem to be upto full fitness. Would have been better concentrating on making sure he took all the deadballs. SWP 4 - for all those who say I'm too harsh on SWP, 2 stats: 24 - the minute when he first took it round a chelsea player. 2 - the total number of Chelsea players he took round in the match. Pretty awful display from SWP. Didnt manage to create a single chance (for those who say 'what about his shot?' - watch the replays later, Macheda ran into Cole as he was about to take the ball of SWP to create the chance). Only real positive was that he looked a lot better once playing the centre behind the strikers. However with the return of Taarabt, I would not be surprised to see SWP relegated to the substitutes bench. Smith 5 - didnt really get into the game and provided little creative input, however he was one of the few who realised we were losing to Chelsea in a cup tie and so made the effort to chase down balls and put Chelsea under pressure Mackie 6 - didnt really create much yet appeared to be the only one interested in winning and once again chased balls down, put defenders under pressure and tried to take on players just to force throw ins and corners. Helguson 6 - had little to do and won the ball most of the time it went up however had nobody to lay it off to Subs Macheda 4 - no chances, no real attacking threat, arguably his greatest moment of the match was to run into Cole as he was about to dispossess SWP Hulse 5 - had his chance to make his mark like Buz and Smith did last week and chased balls down and put defenders under pressure which will be enough to keep him on the bench for next week, however he is still the same sub-championship level striker Manager Hughes 6 - defensively, much better from the previous chelsea game however going forward was atrocious. Needs to spend the week on the training ground getting other players to learn how to take free kicks and also working on creating some chances with your wingers. However is still trying to work out his best team as shown by the inclusion of Hulse. Referee Dean 6 - refereed the game with common sense however made an awful call for the penalty which ultimately decided the result of the game. QPR fans can have little complaint though as a win would have been undeserved.
I thought Barton deserved a better score. Other than set-pieces, he played very well. 8 for me. Also Hulse played pretty well and would warrant a 6.
Kenny 7 Young 7 Ferdinand 7 Hall 7 Hill 7 Mackie 6 Barton 6 Buzsaky 5 SWP 5 HH 6 Smith 6 Macheda 1 Hulse 6
Feels a bit high for Paddy as he had nothing to do. Also thought Joey had a very good game today. SWP was utter cack. I also think you've over marked Mackie. He runs and runs (like Forest Gump) but never looks up and never delivers anything. Just my opinion.
Mackie I possibly over-marked however he was one of the few that runs and he actually put some effort into putting pressure on the chelsea players. At 85 minutes, he was shouting to others to stop trying to keep possession amongst the back 4 and actually bring it up the pitch to create chances. Barton was solid in the middle but was utter ****e from set pieces, the last 2 weekends have shown exactly why he shouldnt take them and explains why we have scored the lowest number of goals in the league from set pieces.
