Masked maestro Cesc Fabregas edges Chelsea closer to title after Rob Green horror show

IT WAS brutal, it was cruel, it was utterly ruthless. It was Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea to the core.

Jose Mourinho feels sorry for QPR after Chelsea victory

One shot on target in the entire match, from a player who had arguably been their worst performer all afternoon, and the points were Chelsea’s.

Their lead at the top of the Premier League this morning is back to seven points, and it was hard to escape the feeling that this was the kind of ominous result that wins titles.

Cesc Fabregas wore a mask to protect his broken nose, and he will not have wanted this display to have been too visible either – until the 88th minute, when he pounced on Eden Hazard’s neat pass after Robert Green’s dreadful kick, to drill home the only goal of the game.

It was one of Chelsea’s poorest performances of the campaign, and Mourinho afterwards admitted his team were lucky. But that will not matter this morning. A win is a win.

“Yes, we were fortunate,” said Mourinho. “It was a typical 0-0 game. We controlled QPR very well, kept them far from our penalty area.

“But they were very organised and gave us a difficult match. Obviously I’m very happy because we kept good emotional control. We never lost our balance. If we had had to go home with a point, we would have. But we scored at a crucial moment.

“Every time I have won a championship, I remember a couple of games where my team won in the last minute. It is a little light that shines for the team that are going to be champions. It’s not normal for a team to be top of the league since day one. That is the team that deserves all the credit.”

Chelsea found themselves battered and hassled by a Rangers side in desperate trouble at the wrong end of the table from the start at Loftus Road – and it was an assault that never let up. Their creative players, Fabregas, Hazard and Willian, simply never got a moment’s peace. Until, crucially, those final few moments.

Chris Ramsey’s side had a lucky early escape when Willian’s cross bounced back off the near post, but chances were few and far between in a frenetic, horribly scrappy match. The most notable moment was when Charlie Austin shoved John Terry to the floor, to the joy of the crowd.

The fact that Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was probably their best player on the day said everything. The Belgian shrugged off the embarrassment of being beaten by Charlie Adam’s wonder goal last week to put in a commanding display. First he saved Austin’s 20 yard shot, and then grabbed Clint Hill’s dipping drive.

His best effort, though, was a superb twisting save to push Matt Phillips’ shot round the post after he pounced on Bobby Zamora’s cross. Had that gone in, things might have been very different.

But well though Rangers played, they simply could not find that ruthless finishing touch. And Chelsea did as they won at Loftus Road for the first time since 1996.

But Green, so often Rangers’ saviour this season, will have nightmares about the moment that cost his team so dearly. His kick out, with two minutes left and a precious point still in their grasp, was skied horribly straight to Hazard, of all people.

FabregasReuters

Cesc Fabregas scored the crucial winner

The Belgian dribbled to the byeline, exchanged passes with Oscar, and laid the ball back for Fabregas to slot his shot home low through a forest of legs. Green, the QPR goalkeeper, was distraught.

At the final whistle, Chelsea’s players celebrated in front of their fans, fists clenched, embracing Courtois. They knew this had been a gritted-teeth, sinews-stretched to the limit performance. And they knew what it meant. Seven games left now, and the finishing line is almost in sight.

Ramsey said: “I’m really disappointed. I’m not blaming Robert Green. It wasn’t one of his best kicks, but we had a long time after that to defend that situation properly.

“Rob is going to be down because he’s a top player. If he had not been in the form he has been, we wouldn’t be anywhere near surviving.”

QPR (4-4-2): Green 6; Isla 6 (Dunne 90 6), Caulker 6, Onouha 6, Hill 6; Phillips 7, Barton 7, Sandro 7 (Kranjcar 80 6), Henry 7; Zamora 7 (Hoilett 83 6), Austin 7.

Booked: Zamora, Sandro.

Next Up: West Ham (h) Sat April 25 PL

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois 8; Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 7; Ramires 7 (Oscar 56 6), Matic 6; Willian 7 (Cuadrado 79 6), Fabregas 6 (Zouma 90 5), Hazard 6; Drogba 6.

Booked: Drogba.

Goal: Fabregas 88.

Next Up: Man Utd (h) Sat April 18 PL

Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands).

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