Anton refuses to shake on it

Anton Ferdinand's refusal to shake hands with John Terry or Ashley Cole overshadowed QPR's 0-0 draw with London rivals Chelsea.

Derby stalemate overshadowed by pre-match snubs

Anton Ferdinand's refusal to shake hands with John Terry or Ashley Cole overshadowed Queens Park Rangers' 0-0 draw with London rivals Chelsea. Neither side really did enough to win the game at Loftus Road and Eden Hazard missed the best chance in the final minutes when scooping a horrible miss over the crossbar. Instead, the match will be remembered for Ferdinand's pre-match snub of Terry, who was accused of racially abusing the QPR centre-back in the corresponding fixture last season. England international Cole was also ignored by Ferdinand in the handshakes before kick-off on Saturday afternoon. The left-back had stood as a character witness for Terry when the case went to magistrates' court. Terry was cleared of the charge but a Football Association investigation into the alleged racism is ongoing. For table-topping Chelsea, it was the first points they have dropped this season after a 100 per cent record in their opening three games, while QPR are still to win a Premier League game. The handshake itself went as well as could be expected. Fears of a mass boycott by QPR's players proved unfounded but Ferdinand made a real show of snubbing both Terry and Cole, much to the delight of the home fans. They, too, made their feelings about the pair crystal clear.

No excuses

Terry, who denies the Football Association charge he still faces over last year's altercation, almost silenced them inside two minutes when he just failed to get telling contact on Frank Lampard's corner. Hazard had no such excuses two minutes after that when he fired Ramires' cross straight at Julio Cesar, who was handed his debut in the QPR goal. Rangers were far from overawed and, despite their high turnover of personnel since the clubs last met, their players seemed acutely aware what was at stake. The home side were snapping into Chelsea, just as they had in last season's corresponding fixture, something Ramires took exception to when he tripped Alejandro Faurlin after being fouled himself and was duly booked. But Rangers were hardly a threat themselves. Zamora firing too close to Petr Cech was their only effort on target in the first half, while Chelsea went close again when Fernando Torres blasted straight at Cesar after tricking his way into the box - his only effort of a risible performance. QPR then lost both Fabio and Andy Johnson to injury in the space of just more than 10 minutes, Nedum Onuoha and Jamie Mackie coming on. Both sides had already seen soft penalty appeals rejected but, in between the substitutions, Chelsea had two that might have been given. First, Terry went down after being leant on in the box by Ryan Nelsen. And after Ryan Bertrand was booked for going through the back of Shaun Wright-Phillips, the QPR winger was fortunate to get away with a clumsy challenge on Hazard.

Showboating

David Luiz sent a free diving header over from Lampard's corner before the game began to drift aimlessly towards half-time. Even QPR's fans were losing interest in abusing Terry and Cole, although Mackie gave them something to cheer about when he tested Cech at the end of a neat move early in the second half. But it was Terry's attempts at showboating in the Rangers half that really turned up the volume and Rangers responded, captain Ji-sung Park wasting a glorious chance to nod them in front from Esteban Granero's cross. Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo responded by sending on Victor Moses for his debut, in place of Bertrand but QPR continued to enjoy the upper hand, albeit with some wasteful finishing. Di Matteo tried again, going 4-3-3, with Ramires dropping back into midfield, and it almost had an effect when Branislav Ivanovic nodded Hazard's cross wide. Djibril Cisse replaced Wright-Phillips for the final 20 minutes, which witnessed an injury scare for Terry when he pulled up clutching his knee. He was able to continue but was then involved in a comedy of errors that should have seen Zamora score, missing a lofted ball that John Obi Mikel played blind straight to the striker. Zamora hesitated long enough to allow Terry to get back and block his finish. Moses tested Cesar at the other end before Daniel Sturridge came on to add the urgency Torres had been lacking. And with three minutes remaining, Hazard should have won it when he blazed over completely unmarked, as if it was always destined to be about the handshake.

Queens Park Rangers	Team Statistics	Chelsea
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	4
5	Shots off Target	4
4	Blocked Shots	4
2	Corners	4
18	Fouls	18
3	Offsides	1
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
82.4	Passing Success	77.2
32	Tackles	22
90.6	Tackles Success	81.8
52.7	Possession	47.3
46.2	Territorial Advantage	53.8
450	Total Passes	400
19	Total Crosses	19
170	Lost Balls	175
57	Recoveries	57
54.8	1st Half Poss.	45.2
51.1	2nd Half Poss.	48.9