By JAKE ODEMO
Chelsea gained 3 more valuable points in their quest to regain the premier league title after beating Hull in a tough match last Sunday. The match was far from easy and they were given a fright by the team from Yorkshire. Jose Mourinho’s men got off to a flyer and were two-nil up inside nine minutes. The first goal came after just two minutes.
Nemanja Matic found Diego Costa who then laid the ball off to Hazard. The tricky Belgium winger found space as the Hull defenders backed off and smashed in a shot from 20 yards. It was his 16th goal of the season. It didn’t stop there, only nine minutes had passed when Cesc Fabregas set Costa free down the left flank. Defender Michael Dawson was slow to close him down and the Spaniard unleashed a shot into the top corner. At this stage Chelsea were cruising well with danger looming for Hull. However, the blues somehow managed to self-destruct and throw away a two-goal lead.
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The first Hull goal came when Andrew Robertson bombed down the left flank avoiding a flimsy challenge from Ivanovic . He then delivered a low cross to the back post where Elmohamady slotted home. If this was lazy defending for the goal conceded by Chelsea, then the second was absolutely comical. Ivanovic played a sloppy back-pass to Courtois, who then attempted to take on midfielder Gaston Ramirez. The pressure paid-off and Courtois could only pass the ball into the path of Abel Hernandez who slotted home. Chelsea were rocking and Hull were now sensing an upset. Fans of Man City, Arsenal, and even Man United could all be forgiven for thinking this could become a major turning point in the season. They would have hoped that a Chelsea slip-up would keep alive their own title aspirations. Any such hopes were dashed when in the second half Chelsea gained their composure and began to play with confidence again. Hull continued to cause the Chelsea defence problems. Thibaut Courtois produced a goalkeeping masterclass with three saves in succession to keep out Elmohamady, Livermore and Ramirez. Mourinho then made a substitution replacing Costa with Loic Remy. The striker scored with his first touch. Willian was given too much space and his pass found Remy whose weak shot somehow squeezed passed the wrong-footed Allan Mcgregor.
It was a lucky escape for Chelsea who were well below their best but that won’t bother Mourinho who is edging closer to a third premier league title with the blues. It was a lively and robust game but it only had two bookings for Cahill and Matic, although Costa was lucky to escape a booking for using an elbow to fend off Jake Livermore who was fouling him. Steve Bruce was quick to point out that the trio of saves from Thibaut Courtois was a turning point in the game stating “Courtois pulls off three saves which change the course of the game”. There will now be a break and both managers will hope that all their players come back injury free from international duty. As for Mourinho and Chelsea they are slowly but surely closing in on another Premier League Title.
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