Hull 2-3 Chelsea: Victory in fear

Chelsea had a dream start when they visited Hull in round 30 of the Premier League. The two stars Hazard and Diego Costa scored consecutive goals to help Chelsea take a two-goal lead after only nine minutes of play.

However, Hull showed resilience despite conceding an early goal. The home team played an open game with Chelsea, even dominating the leaders in the first half. Within just two minutes, 27 and 28, Hull scored consecutively thanks to Ahmed El Mohamady and Abel Hernandez. It was not until the 77th minute that substitute striker Loic Remy scored to help Chelsea seal a 3-2 victory.

The three points helped Chelsea maintain a firm hold on the top spot in the Premier League. Mourinho's team is now six points ahead of second-placed Man City with a game in hand.

Chelsea returned to winning streak in the Premier League. Photo: Reuters.

Chelsea's form has slowed down in recent matches with two consecutive draws against PSG and Southampton. Entering the match against a team at the bottom of the table like Hull is an opportunity for Chelsea to quench their thirst for victory. In contrast to an easy match, Mourinho and his team experienced 90 minutes of fear at the KC stadium.

Hull played evenly with Chelsea thanks to their fast-paced attacks and physical play, leaving the away team's stars out of breath. This is a reasonable tactic of coach Steve Bruce because Chelsea's players are showing signs of fatigue after having to play continuously on three fronts in the past two weeks.

Aside from the tactical and technical aspects, the spirit of the Hull players was the most commendable aspect of this match. They did not collapse despite conceding two early goals and calmly took advantage of every opportunity and mistake from their opponents. In the first goal, Andrew Robertson dribbled past three Chelsea players before crossing for El Mohamady to score. In the second, Courtois' mistake gifted Hernandez the equaliser after just 74 seconds.

Chelsea wanted to finish Hull off quickly and they almost did so with Hazard opening the scoring in the second minute. The Belgian midfielder stunned the Hull defence with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box. Just minutes later, Diego Costa doubled the lead and moved level with Harry Kane in the top scorers list this season with 19 goals.

El Mohamady scored to reduce the score for Hull. Photo: Reuters.

However, Costa's goal was Chelsea's last mark in the first half before they were overwhelmed by Hull's powerful play. Hull's wingers Robertson and El Mohamady constantly stirred up the two wings while striker N'Doye tormented Chelsea's defense. Hull created dozens of chances in front of Courtois' goal. Chelsea would have even ended the first half behind if Hernandez had scored in a favorable one-on-one situation early in the match. First-half statistics showed Hull had 14 shots while Chelsea had only three.

In the second half, Chelsea had a chance to take the lead but Fabregas shot wide in the box. Chelsea had a good start but they lost the mental advantage like in the first half and let Hull play freely.

Remy scored the winning goal for Chelsea. Photo: Reuters.

The turning point came midway through the second half, with Hull having clear chances to score but Courtois made up for his mistakes with three consecutive saves to deny powerful shots. It was then that Mourinho showed his mark in adjusting his players when he brought on Remy to replace Costa. The French striker took just over a minute on the pitch to score the winning goal from Willian's cross.

Remy's goal cost Hull vital points and they are now in a relegation battle. Hull are 15th and just three points above the relegation zone.

According to VNE