Eden Hazard's solo effort and a Fernando Torres goal sent Chelsea top of the Premier League in another ground out win over Hull City. Jose Mourinho's men completed a double over the Tigers with victory at the KC Stadium. Hosts Hull made a strong, composed start as they had against other heavyweight opposition. This approach was typified by wingback Ahmed Elmohamady, who ran at Ashley Cole at every opportunity. Petr Cech held the Egyptian's swerving strike on seven minutes. Blues striker Torres then saw a deflected effort off Alex Bruce fly into the side-netting as Chelsea quickly countered. Such instances were rare early on as the Tigers made more of the running. Jake Livermore forced Cech to palm behind after good holdup play from Yannick Sagbo midway through the first half. The Ivorian striker then shanked wide himself when Elmohamady charged down John Terry's lazy clearance. Allan McGregor's outstanding one-handed stop denied Oscar what looked to be a certain goal after half an hour. The Blues upped the tempo and sliced through Hull here. David Luiz also forced the Tigers keeper to tip his free kick over before half time. Hazard shot narrowly wide for Chelsea after the break and McGregor then parried another Luiz set piece. Ten minutes into the second half Hull's resistance gave out. Hazard came infield and fired precisely into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Curtis Davies had to block from Oscar as the Tigers just about remained in the match. Bruce sacrificed James Chester for the closing stages, changing formation from a back three to 4-4-2 with Matty Fryatt's introduction. Torres sealed victory for the Blues four minutes from time, however, firing low past McGregor on his near post. Chelsea will remain top until at least Sunday afternoon when Manchester City play. Leaders coming into the weekend Arsenal are in action on Monday.
Jamie Clark is a qualified Web Journalist after undergoing professional training at the University of Sheffield. A prolific and accredited sports writer, he also enjoys classic comedy, historic fiction, 80s music and heritage.
