Hull vs Chelsea - Match Report

Chelsea vs Hull City - Match Report

Hull 0 - Chelsea 2

Second half goals from Hazard and Torres sealed a good away victory for the Blues to send them top of the Premier League.

After a somewhat lacklustre opening half to this week's early kick off, a piece of individual brilliance from Eden Hazard in the 57th minute gave Chelsea a vital breakthrough against a very resilient Hull City defence.

Fernando Torres doubled the lead in the 87th minute, beating Alex Bruce before sliding past Hull 'keeper McGregor's near post, sealing Chelsea's fourth win in a row.

The first half was a tale of Chelsea sloppiness, with misplaced passes and panicked clearances testament to Hull's organised high press. The first sight of goal fell to Hull's Yannick Sagbo, who on 25 minutes lashed a shot past Cech's right post after a poor pass from John Terry.

With City's pressure paying dividends, Hull continued to carve out half-chances with Elmohammedy testing Cole each time he received the ball, but a resolute centre-back pairing of Cahill and Terry nulled their attacking threats.

Chelsea themselves managed a few chances in the first half, with the attacking triumvirate of Hazard, Oscar and Willian always willing to get the ball and drive towards the Hull goal. Oscar went closest for the Blues, having a powerful effort from inside the box saved remarkably by McGregor after Hazard beat his man a cut it back.

This was a classic tale of two halves, however, with Chelsea going up the gears as soon as the second half got underway. Early possession and pressure failed to pay off until the 57th minute, when superb work from Eden Hazard on the left opened the scoring. Cutting in from the wing the Belgian showed poise and composure to fake a shot before firing the ball past McGregor into the bottom corner.

Chelsea threatened to add to their lead, with Oscar and Willian adding their ability to the goalscorer Hazard's. Hull continued to compete, but there seemed to be a sense that Hazard's moment of undeniable class had put this clash out of reach for the home side.

As the Tigers began to chase the game, Willian and Torres began to find spaces in the final third, but Mourinho's substitution of Mikel for Oscar made his intentions clear.
Chelsea showed a great ability to soak pressure and counter, and this was capitalised upon by Fernando Torres who, after receiving the ball from Willian spun past Alex Bruce and lashed a left-foot shot into the Hull goal, sealing victory in the 87th minute.

With Manchester City and Arsenal still to play, victory for Chelsea in the early kick off sends them to the top of the table. The team return to London following a good result against a team who have strong home form, with Petr Cech worth of a special mention for achieving his 209th clean sheet, sending him above Chelsea Legend Peter Bonetti in the club's all time records.