Chelsea see red over Foy

QPR 1 Chelsea 0:A FURIOUS occasion has drained composure from Chelsea's pursuit at the top. Andre Villas-Boas's side lost their discipline as well as a west London derby here and an opportunity to hoist themselves into second place and nearer Manchester City was passed up, not that those who waved the visitors on their way could care less.

Queens Park Rangers had waited 16 years to prevail in this fixture and their fans left this corner of the capital in a state of delirium at the end while Chelsea cursed at the perceived injustice of it all. They will incur a fine for the seven yellow and red cards flashed by Chris Foy, who sent off Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba, though the FA will surely also consider sanctioning Villas-Boas over his post-match reaction in the tunnel and public assessment of the referee.

The Portuguese had confronted Foy as the teams trudged from the turf and any potential punishment will depend upon what the official includes in his match report about that altercation. “The referee was poor,” said Villas-Boas. “Very, very poor.

“And it reflected in the result. I spoke to him at the end and I was very aggressive. I don’t care if he’s okay or not. Anyone can have a bad day but this was not a bad day for us: it was a good day for us but a bad day for the referee. Conspiracy theories can lead to bans and people calling us cry babies, so we’re not saying that. But it keeps happening.”

His principal frustration was an apparent lack of consistency in the referee’s awards. David Luiz was penalised for the ninth-minute shoulder barge that sent Heidar Helguson sprawling and allowing him to score the game’s only goal from the penalty spot. Yet Fitz Hall’s tug on Frank Lampard in the area went ignored, as did Helguson’s own grapple with David Luiz. Had a penalty been awarded for either it would still have been deemed soft but such was the tone set by Foy in the first half.

There was outcry, too, at the decision to dismiss Bosingwa for tugging down Shaun Wright-Phillips after the winger had outpaced the full-back on his inside. John Terry, claimed Villas-Boas and the Chelsea captain himself, was covering in the centre to ensure the incident should not be considered a goalscoring opportunity.

Neil Warnock, predictably enough, saw matters rather differently. “A lot of referees would have been conned, so I’m pleased we had him,” QPR’s manager said. “When you’re beaten like that and have two men sent off, it’s easy to blame the referee. When you’re young, you do that.” What neither manager contested was the decision to dismiss Didier Drogba just before half-time, the Ivorian losing the ball to Alejandro Faurlin, then leaping in two-footed to regain it, sending Adel Taarabt spiralling into the air in the process.

That was born of frustration and, according to Warnock, “worthy of three sendings off”. Drogba will miss three matches, the second of which will be against Arsenal, opponents he relishes tormenting, next Saturday.

Chelsea might have plucked an unlikely point near the end only for Paddy Kenny to thwart Nicolas Anelka from close range as nerves gripped the home side. The fact that QPR had been expected to prevail at the break had rather served to provoke panic, with the few chances they created all missed and their passing erratic. But theirs was the ecstasy on the final whistle with a result Warnock claimed “they’ll still be talking about in 30 or 40 years”. Chelsea’s sense of grievance may take that long to subside.

John Terry last night categorically denied making a racist slur against Anton Ferdinand during the game after footage merged on the internet.

Terry said in a statement: “I’m disappointed that people have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying to Anton Ferdinand.

“I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term.

“I would never say such a thing, and I’m saddened that people would think so. I have known Anton for a long time and spoke to him about it after the game and there was no problem between us.

“I congratulated him on their win. He has not accused me of any wrongful remark. It was clear it was all a misunderstanding at the time.”

Guardian Service