Hazard, Torres propel Chelsea to first place
Print Edition
Second-half goals from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres gave Chelsea a 2-0 victory at Hull City yesterday that fired the Blues to first place in the English Premier League.
Chelsea put in a classic Jose Mourinho performance, patiently wearing down their hosts before grabbing the breakthrough and killing off the game.
The victory put Chelsea one point ahead of leaders Arsenal, which visits Aston Villa tomorrow, and sets them up nicely for next weekend’s home game with Manchester United
Hull looked like they were coping with their illustrious visitors until a flash of brilliance from Hazard in the 56th minute gave Mourinho’s side the lead.
Torres sealed the victory with three minutes left to mark his 200th Premier League appearance with a goal.
Hull were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the season, when the Tigers were blown away in the first 25 minutes by a rampant Chelsea performance.
The opening exchanges at the KC Stadium were not quite a role reversal, but it looked like Steve Bruce’s team had learned from their experience in August.
The hosts were sharp and pressed Mourinho’s men into a string of sloppy mistakes, and they might have even taken the lead.
Ahmed Elmohamady saw a dipping shot from 20 yards held by Petr Cech and the Chelsea goalkeeper had to push away Jack Livermore’s effort from similar distance after strong hold-up play by Yannick Sagbo.
Alex Bruce sent a free header over from a Tom Huddlestone corner, before another Chelsea error presented Hull with a golden chance.
Livermore closed down John Terry and his blocked clearance fell kindly for Sagbo 12 yards out, but the Ivorian’s first-time shot flashed narrowly wide.
Torres cut a lonely figure against Hull’s trio of center-backs, but the attacking threat of Oscar, Willian and Hazard was clear as the visitors began to stir.
Hull have kept six clean sheets at home this season, but they needed some excellent goalkeeping from Allan McGregor to prevent Chelsea going ahead.
Hull might have felt they were doing a good job of keeping Mourinho’s men at bay, but they were undone by a moment of magic in the 57th minute.
Luiz’s ball into Ashley Cole on the edge of the area was cleverly flicked to Hazard by the England defender.
Hazard feinted to shoot, jinked to the right, and drilled a low shot into the bottom-right corner of the net from the edge of the box.
Torres made sure of the three points, drilling a shot beyond McGregor at the near post.
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