Chelsea vs QPR Player Ratings

By ESPNSTAR.com staff

Former Blues player Shaun Wright-Phillips' second half effort was enough to snap QPR's 12-match losing streak at Chelsea.

Blues boss Rafa Benitez will face questions over his team selection which did not include Juan Mata or Eden Hazard in the starting line-up.

Instead, Victor Moses and Oscar returned with Marko Marin making his first league start for the Blues, while Ross Turnbull replaced groin injury victim Petr Cech in goal.

Chelsea

Turnbull - 6.5
The Chelsea back-up keeper Turnbull did well to hold onto Granero's shot from just outside the box on 58 minutes, but could do nothing about Wright-Phillips' effort 12 minutes from time which came from a similar distance and sealed the points for QPR.

Azpilicueta - 6
Did not make any major mistakes but gets marked down for his propensity to go to ground far too easily.

Cahill - 7
Cahill did not have too much to do in the game with QPR opting to play with just one striker up top, therefore it is a credit to Cahill for being focused and alert to danger when it arrived. For example, it was Cahill who got the vital clearance when Mackie was played through on goal late in the game.

Ivanovic - 7
It was a very lacklustre performance by Chelsea but you couldn't label this accusation at Ivanovic. He played with a real fire in his belly to get Chelsea the victory and in the second half he looked more hungrier to score than Torres did.

Bertrand - 6.5
The young Chelsea full-back had a decent outing and on another day might have been awarded a penalty when he appeared to have been clipped on the edge of the penalty area during the first half. The referee waved play-on instead.

Luiz - 6.5
An average performance from Luiz who still has some way to go to hone his craft in this new midfield role. At times he struggled to pick out the runs of QPR's Taarabt, who was man-of-the-match at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard (Off 79') - 6.5
The crowd was willing him to put the ball into the back of the net and he duly delivered in the second half - but was flagged for being (fractionally) offside. Chelsea were too slow to make things happen for large parts of the game and as a result Lampard did not enjoy the type of space he normally gets against stretched teams at Stamford Bridge.

Moses (Off 75') - 7
Out of the starting group of Chelsea midfielders, Moses was the most dangerous player and he should have scored in the 48th minute when presented with a chance close to goal. Unfortunately for Blues supporters, their midfielder could not steer his effort past Cesar and into the QPR goal.

Oscar - 6.5
A patchy performance by Oscar. He was good in some parts - especially when he ran at the QPR defence. However, there was no consistency in the Brazilian's play on Wednesday.

Marko Marin - 6

Marin certainly wanted to impress which is a good thing except that he was too pumped up and to be honest was very lucky not to have been sent off in the opening minutes of the game. The Chelsea new boy should have seen red for a late challenge on Mbia.

He did have some positives, though, including a brilliant second half shimmy to get past his marker and set up Moses in front of goal, but the Chelsea player missed.

Torres - 5
Torres just didn't show up today, plain and simple. He gave the ball away far too cheaply and was second best to so many balls. Chelsea lacked a cutting edge in front of goal against QPR and that's because their top striker went missing.

Subs
Hazard (On 60') - 6
Produced a nice bit of skill to roll the ball into the path of Moses but the Chelsea midfielder failed to take his chance.

Mata (On 75') - 6
Should have started the game from the beginning. In his limited time on the field, he still managed to create a good goal scoring opportunity for Ivanovic in the box but the defender could only head the ball over.

Ramires (On 79') - N/A
Had a half chance when the ball fell to him but it was blocked. Conceded a few too many fouls as well.

QPR

Cesar - 7
A clean sheet against the champions of Europe is always a bonus. Deserves credit for a brave save on Torres from close ranger in the 52nd minute. His distribution was also good.

Onuoha - 6.5
Bailed out his team-mates when Oscar got past Derry in the 64th minute - the cross was a good one but Onouha got to it before Torres did.

Nelsen - 7.5
Chelsea were excellent for a 15 minute stretch after the interval but QPR defender Nelsen was equal to the challenge. His block on Lampard's goal-bound second half effort epitomised his commitment on Wednesday.

Fabio - 6
He still concedes to many needless fouls but his passing was consistently good down the left channel.

Hill - 7
His closing down was generally really effective. He did have one nervy moment, though, when he panicked late in the game and conceded a silly free-kick just outside the area. Luckily for him, Luiz hit the free-kick straight into the wall.

Derry - 6.5
Was OK on the cover and he had to be. Oddly, Derry was not booked for a clothesline challenge on Marin in the first half.

Taarabt (Off 92') - 8
Taarabt was played as the main striker and he did brilliantly for QPR. He just seems to drift past his opponents effortlessly and caused Chelsea's back-four problems. His touch to set-up Wright-Phillips for QPR's winning goal was also a different class. Wonderful player.

Granero (Off 90') - 7
Played a vital role in controlling the tempo and shape of the QPR team when they had the ball. Spread the play intelligently for Redknapp's side.

Mbia - 6
Worked tirelessly for the QPR cause but did not have too much to show for it.

Hoilett (Off 15') - N/A
His QPR career has been punctuated by injury and this trend has not changed in the New Year. Went off after just 15 minutes with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Mackie - 6
Was feeding off scraps at times and found himself having to track back a lot. Lucky not to have given a penalty away early on after appearing to clip Bertrand just inside the Chelsea box.

Subs
Wright-Phillips (On 15') - 7.5
Prior to Wednesday's winning goal, Wright-Phillips had not scored in the Premier League since May 9 2010. That's over 969 days ago so to say he took his chance well is a bit of an understatement!

Park (On 90') - N/A
Good to see the QPR captain back from injury.

Dyer (On 92') - N/A
Came on as Redknapp looked to eat up more time.