Chelsea 2-0 Hull City: Same Old Chelsea?

José Mourinho began his second spell in charge of Chelsea with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hull City on Sunday. Chelsea join fellow title contenders Manchester United on 3 points after round 1 as Mourinho made a happy return to Stamford Bridge. The home side could have taken the lead as early as 6 minutes after visiting goalkeeper Allan McGregor had taken down Fernando Torres inside the penalty area, but the Scottish goalkeeper redeemed himself seconds later by keeping out Frank Lampard's attempt from the penalty spot. Chelsea dominated the early possession and were keeping it in Hull City's half too. They got their reward on 13 minutes when Oscar sprinted onto Kevin De Bruyne's through ball to beat McGregor to the ball as the Brazilian poked home for 1-0.

Frank Lampard may have been denied from his earlier spot kick but the England international found the net on 25 minutes with a long range free kick. Goalkeeper McGregor may be disappointed with his effort when he sees the replays. After an eventful start from Chelsea in which they took the game to the visitors, they eased off for the remainder of the first half as Hull City saw spells of possession for the first time. Chelsea managed to prevent a single shot on target against their goal in the whole of the first half. The Blues came close to adding a 3rd with the last action of the first half when Branislav Ivanovic's powerful header from a corner was kept out at the second attempt by McGregor. The new goalline technology showed the ball did not cross the line.

The second half lacked entertainment as Chelsea played out their victory and created few opportunities in the second half. This was typical of José Mourinho games during his first spell in charge at Chelsea, which ended nearly 6 years ago. Summer signing André Schürrle made his debut in the second half as a substitute for Kevin De Bruyne who too had been making his debut, and in the final 5 minutes Marco van Ginkel would be the third Chelsea player to make their debut Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku also made an appearance in place of Fernando Torres, but the Belgian striker who had a successful loan spell with West Brom last season barely touched the ball in the final 15 minutes that he was on the pitch.

Chelsea headed into the weekend as favourites to win the 2013-14 Premier League with their odds narrowly shorter than Manchester City who start their season on Monday night at home to Newcastle United. Third favourites Manchester United made an impressive start on Saturday with a 4-1 win at Swansea City, which saw both Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck score a brace.