Chelsea secured a comfortable 2-0 win over a lacklustre Hull City side, thereby keeping their comfortable gap from the rest of the title contenders. The win sees the Blues lead second-placed Arsenal by eight points. Meanwhile, Hull remain in the relegation zone after this loss.
The first half saw Chelsea control possession and deservedly take the lead when Diego Costa scored from a Victor Moses cross. Chelsea doubled their lead in the second half when Gary Cahill scored with his head, taking his tally to two goals for this season. The second goal came as a relief for the leaders after Hull enjoyed a brief spell of possession.
Here’s how the players fared during the game.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian made a couple of smart saves to prevent the visitors from scoring. He kept his concentration, although he wasn’t kept busy for a vast majority of the game.
César Azpilicueta – 6/10
Azpilicueta kept things solid at the back and defended effectively. The Spaniard also contributed in attack by making some overlapping runs and established a perfect balance between the attacking and defensive aspect of his game. He had a passing accuracy of 83% in the game.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
Cahill kept things compact at the back and came out of this test unscathed. He was vocal at the back and did well to keep the Hull City attack under control. The Englishman was rewarded for his strong performance with a goal when he headed in a Cesc Fabregas cross towards the end of the game.
David Luiz – 6/10
Luiz did well to stop the likes of Abel Hernandez and Adama Diomande from having a sight at goal. The Brazilian lost some of his duels early on in the game but played better in the second half.Overall, it was a no-nonsense performance from the Brazilian.
Marcos Alonso – 5/10
The Spaniard was lucky not to be punished after his rash challenge on Abel Hernandez went unnoticed. He had a few shaky moments, nevertheless, linking up well with Hazard and being involved in the build-up to Chelsea’s first goal by providing a cross field ball to Victor Moses.
N’Golo Kanté – 5/10
The Frenchman aided Chelsea’s attack with his vast expanse of energy and also tracked back to help break attacks from the opposition. Kanté executed his job in a simple manner and didn’t take many risks. He was booked for committing a foul towards the end of the first half.
Nemanja Matic – 7/10
The Serbian played his part to perfection by shielding the defence. Matic went on with his work silently and helped keep things tight at the back. He helped in attack by not losing possession cheaply and played an integral part in keeping Chelsea’s shape.
Victor Moses – 7/10
Moses continued his resurgence under Conte with a fine attacking display. The Nigerian proved to be a menace for the left side of Hull’s defence and provided a beautiful assist to set Costa up for his fifteenth goal of the season. Moses also contributed defensively by tracking back and putting in some tackles in key areas of the field.
Eden Hazard – 6.5/10
It was a game where the Belgian would be a little disappointed for not adding to his goals/assists tally albeit linking up well with his teammates. His one-twos with Costa and Alonso and constant movement troubled Hull’s defence. The Belgian was subbed off in the 70th minute after putting in a decent display.
Pedro – 6.5/10
Pedro put in a lot of effort today and will be slightly dejected not to score or assist. The Spaniard’s relentless pressing helped the hosts win back possession on a number of occasions and he helped his team attack with fluency by making some intelligent runs in the opposition half. Pedro’s deliveries were a little off the mark.
Diego Costa – 8/10
Chelsea’s talismanic striker returned to first team action with a well-taken goal from Victor Moses’s cross. Costa played some smart football with his team-mates and could have added to his tally being judged offside, questionably, in the early part of the first half and a one-on-one which was saved by Jakupovic in the second half. Costa was substituted few minutes before the end of the game.
Substitutes
Cesc Fabregas – 6.5/10
Fabregas was brought on in the 70th minute of the game replacing Eden Hazard. The midfielder kept things simple and his simplicity was awarded with an assist for Chelsea’s second goal of the game.
Willian – 6/10
The Brazilian did well to stretch Hull’s defence in the later parts of the game and won the freekick which was eventually headed in by Gary Cahill.
Michy Batshuayi – N/A
Batshuayi replaced Costa towards the end of the game. The Belgian had a few touches and couldn’t heap more misery on Hull.
Hull City
Eldin Jakupovic – 5/10
Jakupovic had some nervy moments in the beginning of the game and saved well from Alonso’s deflected shot. He could have done a little bit better in keeping out Chelsea’s opening goal by positioning himself better. The Hull City keeper couldn’t have done much in keeping out Chelsea’s second goal.
Harry Maguire – 7.5/10
Maguire was arguably the best player on the pitch for Hull. Maguire was resolute defensively and stopped the likes of Hazard, Costa and Pedro from getting into dangerous positions. The robust centre-back also offered Hull some options going forward and had a header and long ranger saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Maguire couldn’t do much about stopping the second goal but could have marked Costa tighter in the lead up to the first goal.
Curtis Davies – 5/10
Davies had an average outing and could have done better in dealing with Chelsea’s right wing. The defender was booked in the 25th minute which led to him taking a conservative approach, and was taken off in the second half after pulling his hamstring.
Michael Dawson – 6/10
Dawson was booked early in the first half for a rash challenge on Pedro, which forced him to play cautiously. Dawson used his experience to keep Chelsea from scoring in the early moments of the game and couldn’t do much from stopping Chelsea score.
Andrew Robertson – 4/10
Robertson was beaten far too easily by Moses during the build-up to Chelsea’s first goal and was vulnerable defensively. His crosses were not up to the mark and the Scotsman gave away few silly fouls in some vital areas. He was booked for bringing down Moses in a clumsy manner.
Tom Huddlestone – 6/10
Huddlestone played deep for most parts of the game as it was controlled by the hosts from kick-off. Huddlestone had a pass accuracy of 95% in the game and kept things simple for Hull. Huddlestone also helped keep things compact at the back and provided a wonderful through ball to Hernández which was scuffed.
Sam Clucas – 4/10
Clucas was untidy in possession and kept losing the ball regularly in the game. Clucas tested Courtois with a shot from outside the D early in the second half. The midfielder could be blamed for Chelsea’s second as he did not pick the run of Gary Cahill who headed the ball to goal.
Omar Abdellaoui – 5/10
The Norwegian started off the game in a positive manner and kept track of the runs made by Hazard and Alonso. As the game progressed, Abdellaoui couldn’t contribute much to Hull’s attack occasionally tracked back as the game progressed.
Ryan Mason – N/A
Mason’s afternoon came to a premature end after suffering a concussion from a nasty head collision with Gary Cahill.
Evandro – 5.5/10
Evandro offered a great amount of work rate for his team but lacked the cutting edge which was required to trouble a resolute Chelsea defence. He lost possession a couple of times which was a negative aspect in his performance against the Blues.
Abel Hernández – 4/10
The Uruguayan cut a frustrated figure as he wasn’t given the proper supply from the attacking midfielders. He looked lacklustre whenever he was on the ball and should have finished better from Huddlestone’s through ball.
Substitutes
David Meyler – 6/10
Meyler came in as a replacement for Mason and provided some much-needed stability to Hull’s Midfield. He helped limit Chelsea’s creative options to some extent and provided an extra option in attack.
Oumar Niasse – 5/10
Niasse showed spurts of brilliance but could not cause any sustained damage to Chelsea’s defence. He was also at fault for failing to mark Cahill for Chelsea’s second goal.
Adama Diomande – 4/10
Came on as a substitute for Abel Hernandez in the 75th minute, but did not trouble the Chelsea defence.
