HULL CITY 2 CHELSEA 3
Hull City - Elmohamady 26', Hernandez 28'
Chelsea - Hazard 2', Costa 9', Remy 77'
Man of the match - Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Loic Remy came off the bench to rescue three points for Chelsea at Hull City, with goalkeeper Thibault Courtois a relieved man after his first-half error.
A 3-2 victory restored Chelsea's six-point lead at the Premier League summit, but the hosts felt desperately unlucky not to take something from a rousing encounter.
Fine efforts from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa put the visitors two up inside nine minutes, but the expected rout never materialised as Hull stunned their visitors with two goals in as many minutes before the half-hour.
Ahmed Elmohamady tapped home the first after a wonderful run and cross by Andy Robertson, and Courtois’ calamitous touch handed Abel Hernandez an open net just seconds later.
For long periods thereafter the relegation battlers were the better side, driving relentlessly at a Chelsea team who were visibly shaken, but Remy settled matters just 92 seconds after replacing Costa, who could not add to his 20th of the season. It was a flowing move from the league leaders, ending with Willian’s cutback to Remy, whose shot squirmed agonisingly over the line after sneaking through Allan McGregor’s legs.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said his side had earned the victory, despite their wobble at 2-0.
“The performance was very, very good until 2-0,” he said. “We lost a bit of quality after their two goals, but in the second half from minute one, we recovered a good level of football. We deserved the three points.
“From our side, it was high-quality football. When we conceded the two goals, we were affected by that. In the last period of the first half, we didn’t play really well.
“I was going to play Remy and Diego together, but Diego was injured so we had to go just for Remy. And even as a lone striker he got the goal.”
The result strengthens Chelsea’s grasp on the title and does little for Hull’s fight against the drop, though Steve Bruce’s men at least showed heart for the struggle ahead.
Hull manager Steve Bruce hailed his side’s performance.
“I think going 2-0 down after nine minutes, you need a response, and what a response,” he said. “The players put in a hell of a shift, and something like 19 shots on target against a really strong Chelsea team shows we’re ready for the challenge ahead.”
That was not the case when Chelsea took the lead with embarrassing ease in the second minute.
Hazard was the most alert man on the field, collecting Costa’s pass and charging towards goal as the entire Hull team, most notably Gaston Ramirez and Paul McShane, backed away and allowed him to wind up as he approached the area.
His rasping shot zipped past McGregor and kicked off a breakneck period of scoring.
Hull should have equalised moments later, Hernandez going one on one with Courtois after Dame N’Doye’s clever flick on. He made a clean connection with his shot, but Courtois, having narrowed the angle, spread himself to make a vital save.
Chelsea cashed in with their second, Costa collecting Cesc Fabregas’ ball before darting into the left channel.
He appeared to have lost his shooting angle but cut back, evaded Michael Dawson and Alex Bruce, and bent a stunning effort across McGregor and in off the far post.
Hull got back into it though their quickfire double, but Remy settled matters at the end.
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