Match report
Full time: Chelsea 2-0 Hull City
Peep peep! Chelsea go eight points clear with a victory that was less comfortable than the scoreline suggests. They have now won 15 of their last 16 Premier League games. Hull have plenty of reasons to be optimistic, though their first thought will be for the welfare of Ryan Mason, who was taken to hospital after a horrible clash of heads with Gary Cahill. Thanks for your company; night.
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89 min Saying which, Clucas clips a good pass over the top to Niasse, whose brilliant shot on the turn is excellent saved by Courtois.
89 min Hull were excellent for 81 minutes. There is a resignation about their play now though, and you can understand why.
86 min Michy Batshuayi replaces Diego Costa, who started slowly before rumbling majestically into action just before half-time. He leaves to an extremely warm ovation from the Chelsea fans. When he is in the right mood, as he has been this season, he is a magnificent beast of a centre-forward.
84 min Fabregas slides a fine pass through to Costa, whose low shot hits the leg of Jakupovic and deflects behind for a corner.
82 min Chelsea are going eight points clear at the top. They have turned what was supposed to be the most exciting Premier League title race for 15 years into a procession.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Hull City (Cahill 81)
Fabregas wafts a curling free-kick into the six-yard box from the left, and Cahill stretches to head emphatically into the net. He had a run on his marker, Niasse I think, and finished with his usual authority.
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79 min Robertson’s deep cross is put behind for a corner by Alonso, who was under no pressure but could not be certain that there was nobody behind him. The corner is headed clear to Clucas, who mishits a volley into the ground. Chelsea break through Kante, who stabs a pass through to Willian on the left. Meyler fouls him. And from the free-kick...
77 min Chelsea would not have expected this to quite such a Spandex-tight contest, yet their defending has been as solid as ever; most of Courtois’ work has been from distance.
76 min “Hey Rob,” says JR in Illinois. “So you say Hull should have had a penalty? I saw it and thought the same thing until Donald Trump told me it was never a penalty. It sure is nice to finally have someone decide what’s a fact and what isn’t. (Oh God it’s only two effing days and I can’t effing take it.)”
I just wish you moaning cows would give a bigot a break every now and then. He’s the people’s president!
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75 min Hull’s final change: Diomande replaces the willing, if not always able, Hernandez.
74 min Chelsea are hanging on a bit. Matic fouls Evandro, who takes the free-kick on the right wing. It’s rubbish and cleared by Kante.
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72 min “Are you sure Costa’s handsy celebration wasn’t the punchline to a joke?” asks Matt Dony. “A crab walks in to a bar. The bar man says, ‘Get out, you’re barred!’ The crab asks him why. The barman replies, ‘You were in here last night, giving it all that...’ (Cue chatty hand signals). It’d have them rolling in the aisles!”
He is renowned for his playful sense of humour so you’re probably right.
71 min A double Chelsea change: Cesc Fabregas and Willian replace Eden Hazard and Pedro.
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69 min A fine through pass from Huddlestone is miscontrolled by the stretching Hernandez. Hull have been tantalisingly close to a clear chance on a few occasions.
67 min Clucas just overhits an angled through pass to Niasse. This is stirring stuff from Hull, who deserve to be level on the balance of play.
65 min Hull continue to have slightly the better of the second half, with Cahill miscontrolling the ball for a corner. It eventually breaks to Dawson, whose half-volley from a tight angle is pushed behind by Courtois. I don’t think it was going in but the keeper had to be sure.
64 min Eden Hazard is limping after his ankle was bitten by David Meyler. Or maybe he trod on Hazard’s foot, it’s hard to be sure.
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61 min There has been enough in Hull’s recent performances, under both Mike Phelan and Marco Silva, to suggest they have a chance of survival. Mid-table teams like Bournemouth and Burnley aren’t safe yet, never mind those just outside the relegation places. Bournemouth might be worth a bet at 40/1.
60 min David Luiz fouls Clucas off the ball, 30 yards from goal. Harry Maguire drives a feeble effort wide.
59 min Oumar Niasse, on loan from Everton, replaces Davies. Presumably Hull will go to a back four now.
57 min Curtis Davies is going off with a hamstring injury.
56 min Another effort from Costa, a low left-footer that is comfortably held by Jakupovic.
54 min Costa’s shot on the turn is crucially blocked by Dawson, throwing himself at the ball like John Terry. The resulting corner is half cleared to Costa, whose vicious volley is also blocked.
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53 min Meyler’s fierce low shot from distance is palmed away by Courtois, diving to his right. Hull have been excellent since half-time and deserve to be level.
52 min Robertson is booked for a foul on the marauding Moses.
49 min There’s a slightly strange atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, with an undercurrent of grumbling. Hull will hope to play on that - and they have just had a very good appeal for a penalty turned down by Neil Swarbrick. That was a clear penalty, a clumsy foul by Alonso on Hernandez. He was beaten to the ball on the edge of the area and kicked Hernandez’s heel.
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Ryan Mason taken to St Mary's Hospital in London & receiving treatment. Get well soon Sir!
— Carrie Brown (@CarrieBrownTV) January 22, 2017
47 min “Dear Rob,” says Ursolin Waxoh. “Your reader Kelvin wonders how Marco Silva could have been sacked from Sporting Lisbon for refusing to wear the official club suit. Well, there’s more to the story. The real reason he was sacked was that his relationship with the club president had deteriorated, and Sporting was eager to lure manager Jorge Jesus away from city rivals Benfica. Which they did, to very little success thus far.”
You’ll never make it in journalism with such slavish adherence to the truth.
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46 min Hull begin the second half, kicking from right to left.
Diego Costa celebrated that goal by using both hands to make the universal signal for “you talk too much”. I bet he knows the Chinese for it as well.
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“Hi Rob,” says Andrew Alger. “Re: Harry Maguire - he came through the youth ranks at Sheffield United before moving to Hull (was in the team that got to the final of the FA Youth Cup vs a Man Utd team including Pogba, Morrison and Lingard). If the Blades had kept hold of him, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton, Matt Lowton and / or Phil Jagielka, we might not have spent the last 6 years in League One (or maybe at least avoided conceding two goals at home to Gillingham yesterday).”
Half time: Chelsea 1-0 Hull
That goal was only Chelsea’s second shot on target, a reflection of how well Hull have defended. But they now face the really hard part: trying to score an equaliser. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
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Moses ran at Robertson and drove a low cross into the area. It beat everyone at the near post and Costa blasted it through Jakupovic from close range. Hull aren’t happy as they thought Hernandez was fouled by Cahill in the build-up. I’m not sure there was much of a case.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Hull (Diego Costa 45+7)
Diego Costa gives Chelsea the lead in added time!
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45+6 min Chelsea enjoy a long spell of possession until Pedro eases the ball wide to Alonso, who sidefoots a lovely cross into the six-yard box. The stretching Kante just can’t get to the ball and the near post and Jakupovic snaffles it.
45+2 min Davies, who has been booked, fouls Pedro just outside the area. Neil Swarbrick gives him a last warning.
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45 min There will be nine minutes of added time. The referee Neil Swarbrick clearly drinks Fanta.
44 min Kante is booked for something or other.
44 min The impressive Maguire storms forward again and hits a stinging, swirling 25-yard shot that is pushed behind by the diving Courtois.
43 min Actually, having seen a couple of replays I don’t think Costa was offside, so that goal should probably have stood.
41 min Costa has a goal disallowed for offside. It was the right decision, just about.
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40 min Hull are working so hard defensively and will be happy that Chelsea have created little in the way of clear chances. They are under so much pressure though.
37 min Costa, who has been a bit rusty, runs the ball straight out of play.
36 min There will be around ten minutes of added time, so the clock is a little deceptive.
32 min Chelsea have a penalty appeal turned down when Elabdellaoui shoves Pedro over near the touchline. That was a risky challenge, because he certainly put hands on Pedro. It wasn’t the full Kyle Walker but he could easily have been penalised.
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31 min Hazard plays a one-two with Alonso on the left of the box but his cut-back is cleared. It’s all Chelsea now.
30 min Chelsea work the ball from right to left, where Alonso’s cross is put behind for a corner. It’s played short and eventually comes to Alonso, whose 20-yard shot deflects off Dawson and loops awkwardly towards the top corner. Jakupovic shows good footwork to scamper across and tip it over.
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27 min I know very little about Harry Maguire but it’s nice to see an English centre-half with such enthusiasm and aptitude for running with the ball.
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26 min Davies is booked for a cynical foul on Kante to thwart a Chelsea break.
26 min The centre-back Maguire goes on a mosey upfield, past both Cahill and Alonso before hitting a cross that is deflected into the side-netting at the near post. From the corner, Maguire heads straight at Courtois from 12 yards.
25 min It can sometimes be hard to get any momentum after a long injury break, and that has been the case so far. Hull have had more of the ball since the restart.
22 min “Reading Marco Silva’s Wikipedia page, it states that he was sacked by Sporting for not wearing the club’s official suit for a cup match,” says Kelvin. “This is despite him winning the club’s first trophy in SIX years. Just how daft is that?”
Quite. Even Jesus Gil would only have given a final warning for that. (Before sacking the manager a day later for not greeting him cheerily enough.)
21 min Mason is applauded off by both sets of fans. He has an oxygen mask over his face but I think he’s conscious as he has one hand placed on his head. David Meyler comes on to replace him.
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20 min Mason is still being treated, seven minutes after the clash of heads. Now he is being strapped into a stretcher so that he can be taken off the field.
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18 min “Don’t officials play on until the putative offside player moves towards the ball?” asks Gary Naylor. “At which point, Koscielny gets his head near kicked off. So there’s at least a biggish grey area here. Or something. Gary Naylor (still upset about Clive Thomas in 1977).”
If that’s the case, the law is as an ass. He was offside, the end. Something not dissimilar happened with Claus Lundekvam at Aston Villa once.
17 min Mason is receiving oxygen as he is eased very carefully onto a stretcher. Everything seems calm enough and there is no suggestion it is a medical emergency.
16 min There’s a long delay while Mason is eased onto a stretcher. David Meyler is going to replace him.
13 min There’s a horrible clash of heads between Gary Cahill and Ryan Mason, who were jumping for a cross from Pedro. Play is stopped immediately. I think they are both okay, though a stretcher is being brought on.
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10 min “Should Chelsea continue to rack up the points and put in performances in the same manner that they have since the Arsenal debacle, where do you think it will rank amongst their Premier League triumphs?” asks Matt Loten. “Mourinho’s original winning machine was as formidable as I’ve seen, but only really had to compete with an Arsenal side beginning to discard their Invincibles, and a United team which had yet to unlock the potential of Rooney and Ronaldo, replace Schmeichel, or assemble the Ferdinand/Vidic/Evra backline.”
Yes, if the season pans out as we expect I’d probably put them below 2004-06 and above 2009-10 and 2014-15. I take your point about Mourinho’s first team not having that much competition but they were terrifyingly good. If they’d had competition they would probably have got even more points.
9 min A nice move from Hull. Huddlestone plays a crisp one-two with Hernandez and drags a tame left-footed shot wide from 20 yards. That came off the sour spot.
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8 min It was extremely harsh to sack Mike Phelan, who was doing a decent job at Hull. That said, Marco Silva’s managerial record is ridiculously impressive, so perhaps we’ll look back on it as a Adkins/Pochettino-style upgrade.
7 min Dawson is about four hours late on Pedro near the halfway line and is booked.
4 min Chelsea have started with breezy authority; Hazard looks particularly lively. We know what a great counter-attacking side they are but they probably don’t get enough credit for their plain old attacking.
2 min “Fair point, Rob, re the offside penalty but earlier on the Arsenal had a good shout denied, so it’s swings and roundabouts, I guess,” says William Hargreaves. “Speaking of which, Xhaka and Coquelin could do to give up the playground antics, I think.”
I didn’t see the rest of the game so will take your word for it. I only turned over for the Burnley penalty, which prompted a weird outrage given how straightforward a decision it seemed to be. Tony Soprano thought he had it bad. What would he make of a post-Twitter society? He’d be lamenting the dignified masculinity of Austin Powers, never mind Gary Cooper.
1 min Diego Costa stands alone in the centre circle. No man is an island, they say, but just look at him. What could it all mean, symbolically? That he’s going to kick off, that’s what. And he almost scores after 12 seconds! Courtois’ lump forward was headed clear by one of the Hull defenders to Costa, who took it on his chest and larruped a volley not far wide from 20 yards.
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“I think you’ll find it was the right decision, Rob, as in morally right,” says Phil Podolsky of Arsenal’s penalty. “As I’ve been saying for the last three to seven years, anyone whose humanity hasn’t been corroded beyond redemption by football tribalism just wants gramps Arsene to win the league one more time.”
Yes, amen to that. I desperately hope he wins a League, Premier or Champions, and retires on a high. Mind you, Spurs don’t make it easy for a boy to devote himself to one neutral’s favourite.
Arsenal’s penalty
“Your mate/pal/peer Mike Butler reckons that the Arsenal penalty decision was spot on,” says Gerrard Catesby. “Why the disparity?”
Koscielny was offside. The penalty decision was correct but play should have been stopped before then. Michael might not have seen that as it can be a nightmare trying to do 47 things simultaneously when there’s late drama.
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Sanchez scores a 98th-minute winner for Arsenal. The penalty was the wrong decision, so Burnley will be furious, but it is what it is. Arsenal move up to second and within five points of Chelsea.
Now Arsenal have an injury-time penalty!
The weekend just got even better for Chelsea: Burnley have equalised in injury time at the Emirates. If it stays 1-1, Chelsea will have the chance to go nine points clear at the top.
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“While I am a Chelsea supporter, I am truly amazed at how well Hull City have done given their unfortunate circumstances with the squad at the beginning of the season,” says Makhib Choudkhuri. “They aren’t out of trouble but still have a lot of hope. All things point to Chelsea winning but Hull may bite strongly! I’ll be very interested to see how Costa plays.”
Team news
Chelsea (3-4-3) Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Diego Costa, Hazard.
Substitutes: Begovic, Ake, Zouma, Chalobah, Fabregas, Willian, Batshuayi.
Hull (3-5-1-1) Jakupovic; Maguire, Dawson, Davies; Elabdellaoui, Mason, Huddlestone, Clucas, Robertson; Evandro; Hernandez.
Substitutes: Marshall, Meyler, Diomande, Maloney, Niasse, Tymon, Bowen.
Referee Neil Swarbrick.
🔶◾️ | New signings Evandro & Omar Elabdellaoui make their full @HullCity debuts whilst Robert Snodgrass misses out through injury #CHEHUL
— Hull City (@HullCity) January 22, 2017
Preamble
In the Abramovich years, Chelsea have made formidable front runners. Their three titles under Jose Mourinho were effectively won by February; and even when the title race went to the last day under Carlo Ancelotti in 2009-10, they nipped any drama in the bud by marmalising Wigan 8-0.
Now they are doing the same under Antonio Conte. There is so much talk these days of philosophy and tactics and projects and galacticoaches. Conte prefers points to Powerpoint; he cuts through all that stuff and prioritises the oldfangled approach of winning almost every bloody match you play.
Chelsea look certain to win the league – not because of their performances in the big games, but because of their remorselessness in the little ones: they have taken 46 out of 48 points against teams in the second tier of the Premier League, from seventh to 20th.
It’s hard to see anything other than a win today against Hull, even allowing for yesterday’s Anfield reminder of the Premier League’s current unpredictability. The problem for the rest of the league is that Antonio Conte does not really believe in unpredictability.
Kick off is at 4.30pm.
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