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Chelsea’s Cesc Fàbregas strikes to snatch late win at numbed QPR Chelsea’s Cesc Fàbregas strikes to snatch late win at numbed QPR
(about 1 hour later)
Managers and players will point to the fixtures still to be played, arguing there are potential slip-ups as well as opportunities still ahead, but this was the kind of result on which fates are confirmed. This is the kind of result on which fates can feel settled. Chelsea’s victorious players had gathered in front of the away support in the upper tier of the School End at the final whistle, punching the air in triumph as they celebrated the retention of a seven-point lead at the top which has edged the title ever closer within reach. While they rejoiced, Queens Park Rangers dragged themselves from the turf in utter disbelief at the visitors’ backs, the west London divide gaping wider than ever.
Chelsea’s players gathered in front of the away support in the School End at the final whistle to celebrate a victory conjured with their first shot on target two minutes from time that maintains their seven-point advantage at the top. Queens Park Rangers, their reality far grimmer, dragged themselves from the turf in utter disbelief. They will have been numbed by this loss, all the optimism generated by an upturn in away form and 88 minutes of industry and aggression here having been undone at the last. Rob Green’s sliced clearance from hands barely stretched 20 yards outside the QPR penalty area for Eden Hazard, of all people, to collect with glee and dart forward. The Belgian was permitted to exchange passes with Oscar, the home defence suddenly ramshackle, before pulling back for Cesc Fàbregas to place the game’s only goal inside the post. Chris Ramsey sank to his haunches, head in hands and agony etched across his face.
This was cruel on the home side. Chris Ramsey’s team had competed aggressively throughout, arguably posing the greater threat, only to implode at the last. Rob Green’s sliced clearance from hands barely stretched 20 yards into his side’s half, Eden Hazard collecting and darting forward at pace. The Belgian exchanged passes with Oscar before pulling back for Cesc Fàbregas to place the game’s only goal inside the post. Ramsey sank to his haunches, head in hands and back to the pitch. His team deserved better. The implications for his team, still two points beneath the cut-off ahead of a fortnight’s lull in their campaign, are grim. Chelsea’s pursuit of their own more glittering prize simply feels more relentless in the aftermath of a victory chiselled from an awkward and fractious occasion.
Chelsea knew they had been stretched, their forward-line blunted by injuries to Diego Costa and Loïc Rémy which will have implications for the games against Manchester United and Arsenal. They had toiled here and, as full-time approached, would probably have settled for a point only to squeeze the kind of win only champions can summon from the deadlock. José Mourinho admitted his team had been blessed with good fortune, prising the game’s decisive goal with their only shot on target. “I feel sorry for QPR because they worked so hard,” he said. “They didn’t let us play better and did their job very well. But every time I was a champion, I remember a couple of matches my team won in the last minute. A little light shines for the team that are going to be champions.”
Fàbregas ripped off his mask as he sprinted into the corner in celebration pursued by team-mates. Those celebrations were interrupted as objected rained down, the home support’s disgust born of dismay. Roman Abramovich, up in the stand, was peering out through designer sunglasses with the implications of the result rather than the performance enough to have dazzled.
This had been scrappy from the outset, a scarred playing surface and a swirling wind nullifying quality and attempts at composure. The conditions occasionally threatened to catch out both defences, Green almost embarrassed when Willian’s swerving cross thumped against his near-post while Thibaut Courtois denied Charlie Austin’s drive from distance. They may actually have gained more psychologically from a narrow late success in a derby than if they had stamped some authority on the contest early on and won comfortably. Fàbregas’ reward had actually been secured two minutes from time, the Spaniard removing the protective face mask – worn after a clash with Stoke’s Charlie Adam eight days earlier which had left him with a broken nose – as he tore into the corner pursued by joyous team-mates. Those celebrations were interrupted as objects rained down upon them, Branislav Ivanovic struck on the neck by a cigarette lighter with plastic bottles and coins among the other debris flung at the visiting players. “If somebody threw a pound, put the pound in your pocket and go,” Mourinho said. “If it’s a chocolate, eat it. No problem.” This was not a day to stoke further controversy. Chelsea had secured the reward that counted most of all.
Yet the frenzy allowed no time for either side to catch their breath and impose authority on the occasion. Chelsea had to wait until virtually the hour-mark to mount a period of sustained pressure, a passage of play which might have seen Bransilav Ivanovic convert Didier Drogba’s flick at an Oscar corner. The header, like much else, was mistimed. They achieved their win despite being blunted, both by QPR’s eager energy and their own injury problems. Diego Costa remains hamstrung, while Loïc Rémy – formerly of these parts and a scorer of winning goals in his new team’s previous two matches – had succumbed to a “small injury” to his calf. The hope is he will have returned to contention in time for the visit of Manchester United on Saturday, with another derby at second-placed Arsenal to follow. In that pair’s absence, Didier Drogba led the line at 37, his goal threat minimal even if the effort and commitment could never be questioned. Willian hit a post with a cross that caught in the wind, but the visitors carried little punch until Green’s slice offered relief.
Quite what Roman Abramovich, peering out at his 700th game through designer sunglasses, made of it all is unclear, but he could hardly have been impressed. Not least because QPR grew in ambition the longer the derby remained on edge. Sandro Raniere and Joey Barton had offered the hosts a tigerish platform from which to build, with the menace carried by Matt Phillips on the flank. QPR were not afforded the same generosity by Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian had been beaten from 65 yards against Stoke but was back to his best here, his form confirmed by an instinctive save to deny Matt Phillips as the winger spat a shot goalwards on the turn. “I’d told Thibaut that, after Hull and Charlie Adam, we needed him to give us a couple of points,” said Mourinho, “and he did that.” The home side must have feared the worst when that effort was thwarted, Courtois having already saved twice from Charlie Austin and Clint Hill.
The winger has been revived under Ramsey, Chelsea straining to deal with his delivery from wide and Courtois conjuring a fine instinctive save when Phillips collected Bobby Zamora’s centre, turned Nemanja Matic with ease and spat a shot at goal. The hosts had offered the more coherent threat, their menace built on the tigerish industry of Sandro Raniere and Joey Barton in central midfield, but the derby had been horribly scrappy on a scarred surface to suggest stalemate. “But we’ve ended up devastated,” Barton said. “We still have a number of games and feel our destiny is in our hands, and if we play like that we will be fine. But you could see what it meant to Chelsea to win that game.”
The Belgian, beaten from 65 yards by Stoke’s Charlie Adam eight days earlier, was back to his inspired best and denied Austin again as the game edged towards its final moments. The post-match celebrations were those of champions elect. The title creeps ever closer to a return to Stamford Bridge.
QPR would have celebrated a point with gusto. As it is, they remain two points adrift of safety with games slipping away. This had ended up a numbing afternoon.
Man of the match Joey Barton (QPR)Man of the match Joey Barton (QPR)