Chelsea get back to winning ways against Hull
Chelsea's players celebrate Nicolas Anelka's goal at the KC Stadium
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Wednesday, 29, Oct 2008 11:38
Chelsea recovered well following their defeat to Liverpool at the weekend with a 3-0 win away to Hull City.
Frank Lampard opened the scoring after just three minutes, then second-half goals by Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda sealed the match.
Phil Brown's side had won their last four games but had few answers to a Blues side that dominated proceedings at the KC Stadium.
The match was brought to life immediately when Lampard scored a sublime lob. Paul McShane's interception fell straight to the England man who chipped the ball from the corner of the box over Boaz Myhill who remained unmoved.
Chelsea continued to push forward and should have added to their lead but Malouda was struggling to find the target, twice shooting wide. Myhill then made excellent saves to deny Joe Cole and then Anelka.
Against the run of play Hull almost equalised when Daniel Cousin struck a shot from 20 yards but agonisingly saw it come back off the post.
Hull ended the first half in the ascendency as Geovanni struck a free-kick from long-range that forced a save from Petr Cech and Marlon King also went close.
But Chelsea regained control of the match straight after the break. Hull defenders Kamil Zayatte and Michael Turner allowed the ball to bounce – expecting each other to deal with it.
Myhill also hesitated and that meant Anelka was able to sneak in and finish from a tight angle.
Malouda continued to misfire in front of goal but eventually managed to find the net when he converted Ricardo Carvalho's low cross.
Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will be pleased with the result, if not the finishing, as the win means Chelsea were able to not concede further ground to Liverpool in the chase for the title.
Hull will have to lift themselves following the defeat as they face a difficult trip to face Manchester United at the weekend.