Chelsea 2 – 0 Hull City
Oscar
13
Lampard
25
Newly
re-anointed ‘Happy One’ Jose Mourinho saw his Chelsea team brush aside rebranded Hull City Tigers today in his
first game back as manager and can reflect on a job well done ahead of
Wednesday’s revisit to Stamford Bridge for
a re-scheduled meeting with Aston Villa.
First-half
goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard, who had previously missed a penalty, were
enough to see off their guests from the North-East despite a second half rally,
following the introduction by Tigers boss Steve Bruce of new signing from Tottenham Hotspur, Tom Huddlestone,
combined with a collective breather being taken by a home side with one eye on
their congested early programme.
That
said, the locals had been left breathless during a first period in which the
hosts played some sumptuous football; the anticipation, aggression and athleticism
of Ramires every bit as eye-catching as the flicks and tricks of Oscar and Eden
Hazard or the consistently accurate attempts at goal from Lampard.
It
was, inevitably, the more forward-thinking of the Brazilian pair who broke the
deadlock inside the first 15 minutes, latching onto a Kevin De Bruyne
through-ball, after the Belgian had been fed by compatriot Hazard, to slip the
ball underneath the onrushing Alan McGregor in the Hull goal and give his side
the lead.
That
was only after the City stopper had thwarted Lampard’s spot-kick - having himself
given away the penalty for a thoughtless foul on Fernando Torres - the Scottish
number one reacting smartly to palm away a powerful drive fizzed in at an
inviting height by the evergreen England international, whom he had already kept
out at Wembley in midweek.
The
35-year-old midfielder made amends less than 20 minutes later, though, to
extend his club record goal tally to 204 by executing a long-range free-kick with
aplomb, sending an effort that McGregor might feel he ought to have tipped over
rocketing into the top corner of the keeper’s half of the net.
Lampard
was impressive throughout and could have had a hat-trick, had it not been for
the inspired form of Hull’s last man and Tiger-in-chief, McGregor, who clawed
away another Lampard effort from the edge of the area that followed further
neat interplay before parrying a point-blank header from Branislav Ivanovic to
safety at the second attempt with the aid of Hawk-Eye on the stroke of
half-time.
However,
it was Ramires who was at the heart of it all for the home team, consistently winning
back possession in the middle of the park before unleashing his more creative
colleagues to bring his work to fruition for the duration of a frenetic first
45 minutes of the new season. It was only once Huddlestone had replaced David
Meyler in the City engine room to face the tiring South American that the
guests began to get a foothold in the game but, by then, the damage had been
done.
Mourinho,
who was given a raucous reception when presented along with his coaching staff
and new arrivals Andre Schurrle, Mark Schwarzer and Marco van Ginkel prior to
kick-off, described his side’s scintillating display before the break as unlike
any other he has overseen during his time in West London:
“I've
played so many times here and won so many matches, but I've never had such a
period of fantastic play like we had” the Portuguese claimed.
While
he acknowledged that the team’s performance had dropped in the second period,
he put this down to the international fixtures in which the majority of his
players were involved during the week. The 50-year-old did, however, accept
that he will be required to orchestrate such a level of performance on a more
consistent basis in the future.
“I'm
happy we managed to win and show this is the football we want to play and can
play. Now it's up to me to make it happen more often”, he noted.
The
only slight disappointments for the Blues were the contributions of Ashley
Cole, who was often sloppy in possession and frequently tested by the pacey
Sone Aluko down Hull’s right-hand side, and yet another mixed day at the office
for Fernando Torres who, at times, linked up well with the three flair players
behind him and, at others, appeared to be off the pace and out of time with his
sharper team-mates, before eventually being replaced by Romelu Lukaku.
Centre-backs
John Terry and Gary Cahill, together with Ivanovic and Petr Cech in goal all
enjoyed relatively stress-free Sundays but, when called upon, gave an
impressive account of themselves in a backline drilled in the style of Mourinho’s
Chelsea of old, which surpassed
long-standing clean sheet benchmarks through sustained discipline, technique
and tenacity, all of which was evidenced this afternoon through effectiveness at
set-pieces and more pro-active reading and poaching higher up the field in open
play.
With
their inaugural objective accomplished, attentions can now be turned to
Wednesday’s visit of Arsenal’s
conquerors on Saturday, Aston Villa, and an early opportunity to emulate the
start of Mourinho’s first spell in England by forging an early lead at the top
over their rivals for the Premier League title, as the re-arranged contest is
the only game being played before next weekend.
Whether
Chelsea’s first ever two-time
manager will be considering mass rotation in order to cope with back-to-back
matches at the start of a long campaign will be telling as to his confidence in
the match-fitness of his squad at this formative stage.
With
a bench bulging with talent and featuring a revitalised Michael Essien, strikers
Lukaku and Demba Ba, together with Player of the Year for the last two terms,
Juan Mata, as well as new boys van Ginkel and Schurrle, who was unfortunate not
to open his competitive account after seeing an audacious lob sail just over
against Hull, at his disposal on Sunday, Mourinho will feel able to use his
squad members sparingly where necessary this season.
With
a trip to Old Trafford preceding a Super Cup reunion with Pep Guardiola and
Bayern Munich already approaching in an action-packed August, the head coach
will surely see this as an opportune moment to rest some of the more
battle-weary on the roster.
From
the opposition dug-out, Steve Bruce witnessed a blur of blue that he dared any
team to try and tackle, predicting a Mourinho-inspired renaissance in SW6 that
could result in the title returning south next May, observing:
“Mourinho
obviously thinks a lot of Chelsea
and they will be a force again, make no mistake about that”.
The
one thing that has held the club back in the past is a perceived lack of unity
and this is the buzzword at the Bridge right now, as Mourinho revealed that owner
Roman Abramovich appeared - for the first time under the Portuguese’s stewardship
- to greet gathered playing, coaching and medical staff, including those
players not involved and those appearing who were new and possibly susceptible to
their high-profile surroundings, in the dressing-room before taking to his West
Stand executive box to view the afternoon’s exploits.
If
the club can use the bonds being formed to build on today’s showing by putting
together a run at this stage of proceedings and, perhaps, adding a certain
somebody to the playing staff before 2 September, it is hard to see too far
beyond the Blues when picking a favourite to claim the coveted top-flight crown
come May.
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