(CNN) -- Rafael Benitez was only just beginning to win over Chelsea's supporters -- now he'll have to do it all over again.
The Spaniard, who replaced Roberto Di Matteo as interim manager at Stamford Bridge in November, could only look on in horror as his side suffered a humiliating home defeat by Queens Park Rangers.
It will do little for Benitez's popularity with many Chelsea supporters still angry at the removal of Di Matteo and the arrival of the former Liverpool manager.
"A lot of things went wrong today," Benitez told reporters.
"We knew we were playing against the bottom of the table side and we spoke about that.
"We knew we had to be focused but we did not have the tempo and some players may have been tired.
"It was going wrong against a side who played deep and were organized."
This was supposed to be a routine victory for Chelsea against a Rangers side which had managed just one league victory all season.
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Bottom of the table and favorite for relegation, Harry Redknapp's side faced its west London rival as huge underdog.
Substitute Robin van Persie (L) celebrates after sealing Manchester United's 2-0 win over with West Brom, scoring his 14th league goal this season.
Man Utd seven clear going into 2013
In the absence of suspended skipper Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel captained Manchester United to European Champions League glory in 1999. United trailed Bayern Munich 1-0 heading into the 90th minute, but stunned the Germans by scoring twice in a matter of minutes to seal a famous 2-1 success. The win completed an historic Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble.
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After all, last season's European Champions League winners had won their four previous league games, including an impressive 2-1 triumph at Everton last Sunday.
Even with Benitez's decision to rest the likes of Eden Hazard, Ashley Cole, Ramires and Juan Mata, Chelsea was expected to see off a QPR side which had already lost 12 of its 20 league games.
Not since 1979 had Rangers won in the top-flight at Stamford Bridge and few gave them a chance of claiming a first away success of the league campaign on this occasion.
After conceding three goals against Liverpool during an embarrassing first half performance on Sunday, there was a more resilient look to this QPR side.
The home side were fortunate not to be reduced to ten men on four minutes when Marko Marin threw himself into a wild and dangerous challenge on Stephane Mbia.
The Germany winger was shown only a yellow card for the tackle, which could easily have resulted in a straight red.
While Chelsea had plenty of possession and worked goalkeeper Julio Cesar on a couple of occasions, the home side was unable to muster that moment of magic to claim the lead.
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Lampard thought he had put his side ahead on 66 minutes only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Chelsea's failure to turn possession into goals allowed their opponent to grow in confidence.
Suddenly, QPR began to look dangerous on the counter-attack, soaking up pressure before pushing forward in search of an unlikely winner.
That winner did eventually come with 12 minutes remaining and when it arrived, it was provided by a man who used to wear the Chelsea blue.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, who spent three years with the club between 2005-2008, showed his former employers how to finish, slamming home from 20-yards to send shockwaves around Stamford Bridge.
The result leaves QPR five points adrift of safety with league games against Tottenham, West Ham and Manchester City to come this month.
Quite what Chelsea's prospective signing Demba Ba thought of the team's performance is unknown, but with the Newcastle striker sat in the stands, the Blues flattered to deceive.
While Ba was busy watching Chelsea, Newcastle was suffering a 2-1 home defeat by Everton.
Papiss Cisse had given Newcastle a second minute lead before Leighton Baines' stunning free-kick and Victor Anichebe's strike won it for Everton.
David Moyes' side are now just two points behind fourth place Chelsea, while Newcastle sits two points above the relegation zone.
Chelsea striker Sturridge joins Liverpool
Elsewhere, Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 win over Sunderland thanks to two goals from Luis Suarez.
The Uruguay international took his tally to 15 Premier League goals for the season with Raheem Sterling having opened the scoring on 19 minutes.
Liverpool, which completed the $19.6 million signing of Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge Wednesday, now sits eighth in the table.
Manager Brendan Rodgers also confirmed that midfielder Joe Cole is holding talks with former club West Ham after enduring an unsuccessful spell at Anfield.
He told reporters: "I spoke to Joe earlier. He is a really good lad and has been brilliant during my time here in terms of as a human being.
"He is obviously speaking with West Ham at the moment and if they can get something organised, it will be a terrific move for Joe."
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Alex Ferguson shouts at assistant referee Andy Garrett in scenes reminiscent of the midweek 4-3 win over Newcastle, after which the United manager was widely criticized for harrassing match officials.
The match was cleared to go ahead after a late pitch inspection following days of rain in the UK. Groundstaff remove waterproof covers which protected the playing surface.
It was pouring down in Norwich, where second-placed Manchester City won 4-3 despite having Samir Nasri (R) sent off following this clash with Sebastien Bassong, who was booked.
Edin Dzeko had put the visitors 2-0 ahead inside five minutes, and the recalled Bosnian striker was involved in the decisive fourth goal -- his shot hit the post and rebounded into the net off Norwich goalkeeper Mark Bunn, who was credited with an own-goal.
Tottenham went third with a 2-1 win at Sunderland but the victory was marred by Gareth Bale's third booking this season for alleged diving -- the Wales winger will now be suspended for the next match against Reading.
Theo Walcott (C) scored a hat-trick to inspire fifth-placed Arsenal to a 7-3 home win against Newcastle, while substitute Olivier Giroud (R) also netted twice.
Schmeichel is backing Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund to pull off a shock and lift the Champions League for the second time in their history. The German title winners have been lauded for topping a group which contained Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax.
Lionel Messi has been unstoppable in 2012, scoring a record 90 goals so far this calendar year. Barcelona will be looking to win the Champions League for the fourth time in seven years.
Jose Mourinho has already won the Champions League with two different clubs -- Inter Milan and Porto. Despite an indifferent start to the Spanish league season, Schmeichel is confident Mourinho has the ability to lead Real Madrid to a landmark 10th European triumph.
Manchester United sit top of the English Premier League as the season approaches its halfway point, but Alex Ferguson's team has leaked goals all season. Schmeichel thinks his old club will need defender Nemanja Vidic to return to his top form if United are to stand any chance of reaching May's Wembley final.
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