Match Report: Chelsea maintain impressive home form despite Fabregas' absence

Eden Hazard was one of the goal scorers during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Hull City.

Any doubts over whether Chelsea could bounce back from their demoralising defeat at Newcastle last weekend were brushed aside as they dispatched of an out of sorts Hull. The home side were not at their best, but did enough to make it 8 home wins from 8 in the Premier League this season.

Chelsea opened the scoring after just 7 minutes. Oscar received the ball to the left of the 18-yard box and floated an excellent cross to the back post for Eden Hazard to head past Allan McGregor. The Belgian has now scored 6 goals in the Premier League this season, all of which have been netted at Stamford Bridge.

Hull pushed to drag themselves back into the encounter after the early setback, but their mountainous task became more treacherous when Tom Huddlestone received his marching orders following a dangerous challenge on Filipe Luis. 8 minutes after the midfielder's red card and the hosts ensured all 3 points were secured. Hazard turned provider to slide in for Diego Costa, who calmly slotted past McGregor to double Chelsea's advantage. Costa now has 12 league goals to his name this season; only Sergio Agüero (14) has netted more.

However, as comfortable as the win was for the Blues, the encounter highlighted just how important Cesc Fàbregas is to the team. As solid a midfield pairing of Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel is, the duo lack the creativity from deep that Fabregas brings to the team. The Spaniard missed the encounter due to suspension having picked up his 5th yellow card of the season in the 2-1 defeat at Newcastle last weekend and Chelsea were nowhere near as penetrative as usual without the summer arrival pulling the strings in midfield.

This is highlighted best in that Chelsea mustered just 3 of their 12 shots prior to Huddlestone's sending off. Hull matched the hosts man for man in the middle of the park until Huddlestone's red, which meant Chelsea struggled to forge any real clear cut goalscoring opportunities until a numerical advantage was established.

Player Ratings

Despite Fàbregas' absence, Hazard flourished. The Belgian was the highest rated player (8.52) in the encounter as he heaped further misery on a Hull side that has now failed to win in 9. A goal and an assist from the game means Hazard has now directly contributed to 8 (6 goals and 2 assists) of Chelsea's 36 league goals this season and his performance against Hull stood out in what was an uncharacteristically turgid display from the Blues.

However, while the Blues are soaring in England's top tier - the win maintaining the 3-point gap between themselves and second placed Manchester City - Hull continue to falter. The Tigers have just 2 league wins to their name from 16 this season and while they were not expected to romp to victory at Stamford Bridge, their 9-game winless run is cause for concern.

Possibly the biggest surprise was Steve Bruce's decision to use 3 centre-backs once more. The Tigers fielded a back four in credible draws with Everton and West Brom recently and since their return to the top-flight last season, Bruce has started 3 centre-backs in 30 league games, yielding just 4 wins. Against teams that use 2 strikers, this system tends to work, though the 3 central defenders against Chelsea, who have used a 4-2-3-1 formation in all 16 league games this season, meant they had a spare man at the back, which could have allowed them to field an additional attacker rather than rely on 3 men to contain Costa.

Blues boss José Mourinho afterwards insisted that he would rather not talk about the players who missed the win over Hull, but it's clear to see that Fàbregas was a loss on Saturday. Fortunately for Chelsea, the Spain international's absence was not exploited, even if the West London side lacked the fluidity that has made them such an attacking force this season. Defeat for Hull, meanwhile, means they are firmly mired in a relegation scrap. The Tigers sit 2 points from safety and with Mohamed Diamé sidelined and now Tom Huddlestone suspended for 3 games, Hull are likely to struggle over the festive period.