Chelsea vs. Hull City: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Chelsea and Hull City fought out an incident-filled game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, a match that saw the Blues win 2-0 to stay top of the Premier League.
Eden Hazard scored within the first seven minutes of the match, and Chelsea followed with some contentious play in midfield and a cross from Oscar. Hazard turned provider for the second goal to set up Diego Costa, while Tom Huddlestone was sent off for Hull for a late tackle on Filipe Luis.
Here are all our winners and losers from the game.
Loser: Steve Bruce and His Lack of Attack
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Hull were let back into the game after going behind early on, simply because Chelsea were nowhere near their best on the day.
Unfortunately for Steve Bruce, his attack was utterly impotent—they didn't manage a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Nikica Jelavic was bullied out of the game by the two centre-backs and too few of the midfielders managed to get forward in support, even in spells when Hull had possession. It's no surprise to see them failing to win games when they cannot even fashion clear opportunities to score.
Winner: Eden Hazard
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For all of Chelsea's sloppy play in the first half—during which they constantly gave the ball away, failed to create too much of note and allowed Hull a foothold in the game—one player kept the level of performance expected throughout.
Belgian forward Eden Hazard scored a rare header, but his usual glut of dribbles, snap shots and fine movement made him a danger during the entire 90 minutes.
His skill on the ball for the second Chelsea goal, as well as the weight on the pass, saw him claim a deserved assist too. Right up to the final whistle, he was a cut above the rest on the pitch.
Loser: Mourinho's 'Chelsea Don't Have Divers' Quote
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Chelsea players do not dive according to Jose Mourinho, per The Guardian.
"I want to make it clear: there are many divers in the world of football. There are many divers in some big clubs in the world of football. There are some divers in England. Not many, some. In Chelsea, no divers, no divers at all."
Perhaps the manager ought to let his players know that. Or maybe he should just watch this game back.
Willian and Diego Costa were both booked for simulation. Gary Cahill should have seen red at 1-0—before Tom Huddlestone was sent off—after diving in the box looking for a penalty. It would have been a game-changing decision.
Fortunately for Chelsea, the referee bottled the decision to card Cahill a second time and awarded a goal kick.
Winner: Petr Cech
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Recalled to the starting line-up for his first 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, Petr Cech had a very quiet afternoon and didn't need to make a single save.
He probably would have welcomed a little action and looked rusty at times—one mistimed punch was an example—but he seemed assured and comfortable for the most part.
Protected well and with time on the ball, Cech recorded a clean sheet and at least reminded Mourinho he is more than capable whenever he needs to be called upon.
Loser: Willian
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It just wasn't the Brazilian's day.
He worked hard to find space, and on occasion, he looked as though he could open up Hull. But ultimately, Willian's end product was a terrible let down. One surging, 30-yard run summed up his first half: He left four players for dead in the middle before giving the ball straight to a centre-back with Diego Costa and Eden Hazard waiting for a pass.
A booking for a poor dive compounded his first-half misery, and it got no better after the break, with his passes and set pieces alike extremely poor.
