Premier League: Queens Park Rangers 0 Chelsea 0

Chelsea dropped Premier League points for the first time this season after being held to a 0-0 draw by QPR at Loftus Road.

The Blues failed to score for the first time in the new campaign, but a clean sheet means they maintain their unbeaten start and stay top of the league.

The pre-match hype firmly surrounded Anton Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole following July’s racism trial in which the Chelsea left-back gave evidence on his team-mate’s behalf against Ferdinand.

All three were included in their respective starting line-ups, and, as speculated, Ferdinand refused to acknowledge either player in the handshakes prior to kick-off.

While tensions never boiled over as the football quickly became the focus in west London, they did help to produce a fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining first half.

Eden Hazard proved the focal point of the away side’s fluid play through the middle of the park, and the Belgian was afforded the first chance of the game, only to be thwarted by Julio Cesar in the QPR goal.

Hazard was unfortunate not to win his side a penalty after half-an-hour, going down under pressure from Shaun Wright-Phillips in the box, but referee Andre Marriner waved away any suggestion of a spot-kick as he had also done with Terry’s earlier appeal.

Yet the hosts were never under the too much pressure, with Mark Hughes’ side often displaying the tenacity to catch Chelsea on the break, with Bobby Zamora managing to test Petr Cech.

Their cause may not have been helped by the loss of both Fabio da Silva and Andy Johnson to injury, but Hughes’ men went into the break on deservedly level terms.

And it was QPR who looked most likely in the opening stages of the second period, with Jamie Mackie testing Cech well with a swivelled shot from the edge of the box, while Wright-Phillips and Jose Bosingwa were both looking to make in-roads against their former club.

A John Obi Mikel error that nearly led to the deadlock being broken, with the Nigerian’s loose back-pass inadvertently playing Zamora through on goal, however, the striker was unable to find the angle after rounding Cech, allowing Terry the time to get back and clear the shot.

Di Matteo handed cameo appearances to Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge, and former Wigan man Moses looked lively, teeing up Hazard late with a gilt-edged opportunity.

Yet the 21-year-old blazed his effort high over the bar, with both sides forced to settle for a point.