SUMMARY
It was a rare afternoon to forget in west London as two red cards and a penalty cost us in our first league visit to Loftus Road since 1996.
In a gripping encounter that also saw nine yellow cards, it was the home side who came out victorious after being awarded a dubious first-half penalty, with David Luiz adjudged to have bundled Heidar Helguson to the floor after just nine minutes. Although Petr Cech got a hand to the spot kick he could not prevent it going in.
With more than 80 minutes left to play there was no cause for panic though, only for Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba both to receive red cards in the closing stages of the first half, leaving us with a huge uphill task.
Having regrouped at half-time we could still have earned at least a point, had either of Frank Lampard or Nicolas Anelka's headers found their way in, but luck was against us, and when referee Chris Foy refused to give penalties to either Lampard or David Luiz you sensed it would not be our day, and so it was we lost our first game to a newly-promoted side since 2001 - 64 matches.
BEST MOMENT
Difficult to pick, but substitute Branislav Ivanovic's cross for Anelka will take some beating this season. With the outside of his right, he landed it on the Frenchman's head, and it should really have been a golden assist for an equaliser.
TEAM NEWS
Andre Villas-Boas rotated his squad once more, with five players returning to the line-up after midweek Champions League rests.
Fernando Torres completed his suspension so Drogba returned in attack, and John Terry resumed captaincy duties from Frank Lampard, who was making his 500th Premier League appearance.
David Luiz kept his place having been rested last weekend, and Raul Meireles continued in place of the injured Ramires.
QPR made two changes, with Clint Hill returning from loan at left-back and Adel Taarabt recalled in preference to Jamie Mackie. Foermer Blue Shaun Wright-Phillips started on the left of a midfield four.
FIRST HALF
A scuffed Daniel Sturridge effort was the only action at either end inside a quiet opening, though David Luiz twice surged into opposition territory untracked by Taarabt, who looked characteristically unwilling to perform defensive duties.
The Brazilian defender was at the centre of the action inside his own area though, and this time for the wrong reasons when his nudge in the back of Helguson sent the Icelandic forward sprawling.
The forward had needed no encouragement in going to ground, and referee Chris Foy deemed there enough contact from David Luiz to warrant a penalty, which Helguson duly side-footed home via the outstretched arm of Petr Cech to give Neil Warnock's newly-promoted men a 10th minute lead.
It was exactly the start the home fans had wanted, but no doubt the exact opposite of what Villas-Boas had demanded from his men, having been aware of the emotive stakes in this game.
Lampard lashed a half-volley narrowly over as Chelsea forced a succession of corners and Ashley Cole drove just wide, but both efforts were from distance as the hosts limited our attacking penetration. Juan Mata clipped the ball over the top for Lampard but it was just beyond the reach of the 33-year-old.
With half an hour gone, QPR were ceding possession but not looking overly troubled by a Chelsea side struggling to move through the gears.
Rangers would have felt even more enthused when Bosingwa received his marching orders, adjudged by the referee of pulling Wright-Phillips to the ground with the winger otherwise through on goal having outpaced the Portuguese full-back.
Again there was contact, but how much was one and how much the other can be debated. From the free-kick Taarabt tested Cech's handling with a curling shot. Loftus Road was rocking, and Chelsea had a mountain to climb.
Villas-Boas brought on Branislav Ivanovic for Sturridge, tucking Mata into a 4-3-1-1 formation, but the manager would need another drastic rethink in under 10 minutes as Drogba too saw red.
Having lost possession inside the QPR half, the forward attempted to win the ball back, lunging in on Taarabt and winning the ball, but in doing so clattering the Moroccan with two feet.
Anelka, on for Mata, would now be the lone forward with Cole and Ivanovic having to operate as near wingers, a tactic that would leave the Blues heavily exposed to counter-attacks in the second period.
SECOND HALF
Just over a minute after the break, Chelsea were oh so close to a leveller. Meireles got forward down the right flank and crossed for Lampard, the lone man in the area, whose header was deflected inches wide of the far post.
It served as encouragement if nothing else, and within moments Ivanovic was crossing from a similar area, forcing QPR keeper Paddy Kenny into a diving punch to deny Lampard a simple equaliser.
Chelsea had emerged a different side, and despite being two men down were looking far more dangerous than they had previously, attacking with speed and finding the space to do damage.
Committing men forward left acres at the back though, and a surge from Barton and Taarabt forced Mikel to bring the latter down on the edge of the box and earn a yellow card.
Lampard and Rangers' Shaun Derry joined the Nigerian in the book shortly afterwards after a coming together where Lampard had voiced his displeasure at the latest in a long line of physical challenges from his opposing midfielder.
QPR could have doubled their lead on 54 minutes when Luke Young ran beyond Cole but stroked his effort past Cech's far post. A goal would surely have ended Chelsea's hopes, but the miss kept the contest firmly alive.
Warnock hauled off Taarabt on the hour, replacing him with the harder-working Tommy mith in an effort to shore things up. For Chelsea, positions were all but out of the window as Terry and David Luiz took it in turns to stride forward.
Cech brilliantly cut out a low Derry cross with Wright-Phillips waiting to tap home, and then at the other end Lampard was manhandled inside the area by Fitz Hall. No foul, said Foy. The referee made the same call minutes later when David Luiz was bear-hugged in the QPR box by Helguson.
Cole's yellow card with 15 minutes to go, following others from Ivanovic, David Luiz and Meireles, brought Chelsea's tally to six.
From the free-kick that resulted in the left-back's caution, Helguson was left unmarked to wrap up the points for Rangers. Instead, he volleyed over from about four yards. All sense seemed to have departed west London for the afternoon.
Three minutes later Anelka should have levelled. Ivanovic could do no more with his perfect cross, struck with the outside of his right boot, right on to the head of the Frenchman, but heading has never been Anelka's strong point, and he sent his effort straight down Kenny's throat.
From the ridiculous to the sublime, as David Luiz raced forward, passed wide and continued his run, sending an overhead kick on target, only for it to bounce over off the heel of Lampard. The Blues were still knocking on the door inside the final 10 minutes.
Malouda's cross from the right was met by Cole's header at the end of the first of five added minutes, but Kenny jumped on it before Lampard could get there.
So it is a first defeat since Old Trafford, and after Manchester City's demolition of United, we are five points off the top.
Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2): Kenny; Young, Hall, Ferdinand, Hill; Barton (c), Derry (Mackie 81), Faurlin, Wright-Phillips; Helguson, Taarabt (Smith 61).
Unused subs Murphy, Orr, Buzsaky, Puncheon, Bothroyd.
Goals Helguson (pen) 9
Booked Derry 51, Barton 58
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa, David Luiz, Terry (c), Cole; Meireles (Malouda 71), Mikel, Lampard; Sturridge (Ivanovic 35), Drogba, Mata (Anelka 45+1).
Unused subs Turnbull, Romeu, McEachran, Kalou.
Booked Mikel 49, Lampard 51, Ivanovic 57, David Luiz 69, Meireles 71, Cole 75, Terry 89
Sent off Bosingwa 32, Drogba 41,
Attendance 18,050
Referee Chris Foy
