Chelsea 2 Hull City 0: Match Report

Chelsea faced Hull at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, 13th December, in a match that was supposed to be a cruise for the Blues and a comeback after their unbeaten season which ended at Newcastle last week. The match did go according to the Londoners, but was a sloppy and slow affair with Chelsea only confirming points after Tom Huddlestone had been sent off for Hull in the second half.

Chelsea was missing Fabregas through suspension, and Filipe Luiz started in place of Cesar Azpilicueta at left back, with Matic returning to the side after serving his one match suspension. Petr Cech was afforded a rare start between the posts, a sign that Mourinho was preparing for the long haul of matches coming Chelsea’s way this month.
The Blues started aggressively, piling on the pressure and minutes into the match, an unmarked Eden Hazard pushing in from the right headed in a beautiful Oscar pass into the Hull City goal. He dosent usually score with his head, and even Mourinho was surprised.

By the 12th minute, Chelsea had 70% possession and was clearly dominating the game. But they were missing Fabregas terribly, and the lack of killer passes was evident, with almost all Chelsea attacks being ended outside the Hull City box.

Slowly but surely, Hull was growing into the game. Sone Aluko had a lot of good chances coming his way but the Nigerian was unable to finish. Later in the half, he was brought down by Cahilll in the box for which the England defender earned a deserved yellow card. Despite their best efforts, Hull was unable to convert the chances that came their way and at HT Chelsea went into the tunnel leading 1-0.

The second half was more in favour of the Hull, and it looked like an equalizer was round the corner. But a brash challenge by Tom Huddlestone on Filipe Luis earned him his second yellow and he was off. An hour gone, and Hull’s challenge seemed to have come to an end.

The advantage of a player showed, and moments later, Deigo Costa got his first goal in five games, sliding Hazard’s pass past Allan McGregor after 68 minutes. Costa had looked rusty throughout the match, and the ball barely slid past the line, but it didn’t matter, Chelsea had sealed the match.

There were complaints that Huddlestone should have been followed by Gary Cahill, who fell over in the box despite no contact, but referee Chris Foy chose to keep his cards in his pocket and the play resumed despite vociferous opposition from the Hull players.

At the end of the match, Chelsea had cemented their place at the summit, while Hull was languishing at the bottom in 19th place. The Tigers are without a win in 10 games and they really need to pick themselves up if they have to survive in the Premier League.