Second half goals from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres did the damage, as Chelsea kept a clean sheet and recorded their fourth straight PL win.
It was an even first half as Hull dug in deep to try and get under Chelsea’s skin and those tactics worked for almost an hour. But Jose Mourinho’s side turned on the style as the game wore on as it was a case of ‘job done’ for Chelsea. View the other goal and read more after the cut...
With the victory the Blues are top of the table with 46 points and are one point ahead of Arsenal in second-place. Hull are in 10th as they remain on 23 points.
A measured start to proceedings saw Hull thwart Chelsea, as Mourinho’s men struggled to create any real clear cut chances early on.
Instead it was the home side who had the first efforts, as patient build up play saw Jake Livermore send in a rasping effort in on goal that Petr Cech pushed away from a corner.
Soon after Chelsea almost imploded, as John Terry needlessly gave the ball away in the box and Yannick Sagbo latched onto the giveaway, but panicked and skewed his effort horribly wide. A real left off for Chelsea and their skipper Terry.
In the 32nd minute Chelsea should have gone 1-0 up as Brazilian playmaker Oscar saw the ball ricochet to him in the box, but Hull ‘keeper Alan McGregor saved superbly as Oscar’s hammered the ball in on goal.
For the rest of the first half Chelsea tried to press but Hull’s stubborn defense held firm, as a David Luiz free kick that was comfortably saved just before the break was the closest the Blues came to breaking the deadlock.
Like the first half 45 minutes, the second half took a while to get going as Chelsea looked more urgent to go ahead. Willian‘s right win cross found Ramires in the box but the Brazilian headed over aimlessly, as the Blues started to pile on the pressure. Moments later one of Luiz’ famous dipping free kicks again caused some issues for McGregor, but the score remained 0-0.
Soon after Chelsea go their goal, as Belgian winger Hazard cut in from the left and hammered a low shot past McGregor after bamboozling three Hull City defenders with his trickery. Oscar, Ashely Cole and Luiz were all involved in the buildup, as the Blues went 1-0 up in the 55th minute thanks to Hazard’s 11th goal of the season.
That goal gave Chelsea plenty of confidence as Luiz had another free kick which went close and Oscar saw his shot blocked superbly by Curtis Davies in the 72nd minute.
Hull hung on for dear life as the Blues surged forward relentlessly, but the Tigers just didn’t create many chances to threaten Cech in the Chelsea goal. Then as the final few minutes approached, Torres turned on his jet-heels and speed past Alex Bruce before finishing superbly to score his 84th PL goal in his 200th game.
The victory momentarily sent Chelsea top of the league as Man City and Arsenal both play later in Week 21.
LINEUPS
Hull City: McGregor, Chester (Fryatt, 77), Bruce, Davies, Elmohamady, Figueroa, Meyler (Koren, 67), Huddlestone, Livermore, Boyd (Quinn, 83), Sagbo
Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Ramires (Essien 90), David Luiz; Willian (Schurrle, 88), Oscar (Mikel, 79), Hazard; Torres.
Goals: Hazard (55), Torres (87)
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