A furious occasion has drained composure from Chelsea's pursuit at the top. André 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 José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba, though the Football Association will surely also consider sanctioning Villas-Boas, normally so calm and calculated in front of the media, 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 OK 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."
The fact that he went on to cite other complaints – decisions that went against his team at Stoke City and Manchester United this season – suggests that, on some level, Chelsea feel they are fighting darker forces. "Three games played by Chelsea were influenced by the referee and this is not Premier League level," he said. "You have to accept there is human error but it's a big pattern for us. Things are not going our way."
The visiting manager's principal frustration was an apparent lack of consistency in the referee's awards. David Luiz, still so defensively vulnerable, was penalised for the ninth-minute shoulder barge that sent Heidar Helguson sprawling and allowed the Iceland international to score the game's only goal from the penalty spot. Yet Fitz Hall's tug back 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. Foy disagreed, perhaps noting that Wright-Phillips had been able to stagger back to his feet with Terry still some distance off.
"The three match officials were led by the emotions of the crowd and couldn't deal with a game like this," added Villas-Boas. "I cannot understand the difference in judgment: not only the major decisions, but the fouls, the throw-ins.
"If he gives a soft penalty like their one, then he has to consider shoves in the opposite box, too. A couple of his decisions were right, yellow cards for sure, but I think he lost it and was card happy towards my team."
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 Faurlín, 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.
Bosingwa and Ashley Cole will be absent in the midweek Carling Cup tie at Everton, the latter having accumulated five bookings. Foy also ended up finishing the contest 30 seconds early, possibly to spare himself having to consider dismissing the England left-back for a second bookable offence following a foul on Joey Barton.
Even with their numbers so depleted, 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 increasingly erratic. But theirs was the ecstasy on the final whistle, a first home win in the top flight since 1996 and 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.
Man of the match Shaun Derry (Queens Park Rangers)
