Kalou 52

Salomon Kalou’s goal early in the second half gave Chelsea a routine victory against their West London neighbours.

The game will be longer remembered, and was more significant, for Joe Cole’s first appearance in a Chelsea shirt since suffering a knee injury in an FA Cup tie at Southend in January.

The Blues also welcomed back defender Paulo Ferreira and gave a debut to £18m Russian summer signing Yuri Zhirkov as well as youngsters Sam Hutchinson and Fabio Borini.

They still managed to create chances on a regular basis in a generally disjointed first half, and improved after the introduction of Frank Lampard at the start of the second.

Indeed the visitors were grateful to a fine goalkeeping display from 23-yearold Manchester United loanee Tom Heaton for keeping them in with a shout right until the end.

Heaton denied Florent Malouda in the second minute and made further saves from Kalou and a trademark long-range fizzer from Juliano Balletti.

At the other end Alejandro Faurlin came close with an effort from just outside the box.

But Chelsea were in control when they took the lead seven minutes after the interval, Kalou breaking Rangers’ offside trap and cutting inside a defender in the penalty box before firing home.

Heaton continued to be far the busier keeper, saving well from Borini moments after the goal.

And he blocked a few headlines when he got his chin in the way of a Joe Cole effort with six minutes on the clock.

But QPR had long since been restricted to goal attempts from distance and the Blues held on comfortably.

However, QPR manager Jim Magilton said he was very proud of his team, despite the defeat: “They were very, very positive and had a right go.

“They just lacked a bit of self-belief at times. But overall it was very encouraging.”