Chelsea 2-0 Hull City 2013: Match report and reaction

If the first half against Hull City is anything to come by in the rest of the season, then Chelsea fans are in for a real treat. More than 40,000 people were there to witness the second homecoming of Mourinho. Once the match kicked off, football became the talking point. Chelsea produced around 45 min of stunning football, which would have certainly pleased Roman Abramovich, who was watching from his box.

Chelsea got an early penalty after Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor brought down Fernando Torres in the box. Normally, the unflappable Frank Lampard stepped up to take the penalty, but it was a disappointment. His miss was his second in the last three attempts.

“The first half was too intense, creative and dynamic for the first game of the season. We started in an amazing way and not even a missed penalty could break our intensity and quality. It was fantastic.

“The second was not a question of attitude or trying to control it, it was just a consequence of the half, pre-season and the week we had, especially for the three players behind the striker.” – Mourinho

Chelsea, though, were not made to pay for the missed penalty because Oscar scored very quickly to put the blues in front. It was a goal of real beauty, as the likes of Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne were involved heavily. We created numerous chances and it was only due to McGregor’s heroics that the score remained 1-0. Such was the movement, intensity, and speed of passing of the midfield that Hull found it very difficult to even get the ball.

A deserved second goal came in the form of a stunning freekick from Lampard, as he made amendments for his missed penalty. Hull City cleared a goal bound header from Ivanovic in the injury time of the first half.

“Chelsea were rampant for the first 30 minutes. When they play with that intensity, movement and fluidity they are a constant threat.”– Hull City manager Steve Bruce.

Chelsea new comers Andre Schurrle, Marco van Ginkel, and De Bruyne made their debuts. De Bruyne was one of the best players in the match.

The second half, though, was more down to earth football with not a lot of chances created by both teams. Hull were much improved after the break, while Chelsea also took their foot off the pedal. Mourinho could be forgiven for slowing down the tempo of the team with the midweek game against Aston Villa in mind.

A great performance and a great way to start the season. Up the blues.

Team line-ups:

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Lampard, Oscar (Van Ginkel – 85?), De Bruyne (Schurrle – 67?), Hazard, Torres (Lukaku – 75?)

Goals: Oscar 13, Lampard 25

Hull City (4-5-1): McGregor, Figueroa, Chester, Davies, Elmohamady, Meyler Booked (Huddlestone – 59?), Koren, Brady, Graham (Livermore – 59?), Sagbo, Aluko (Boyd – 79?)