Hull City 0 Chelsea 2: Player ratings as Eden Hazard impresses

Hull City

Allan McGregor Made a great save from Oscar in the first half and could not be really faulted for either of the goals. 6/10

Ahmed Elmohamady Troubled Cole early on with his running down the right, but his influence waned as the game went on. 6

Maynor Figueroa Did not do a lot wrong but neither neither did he really stamp his authority on the Chelsea front-line. 5

Curtis Davies Marshalled the defence well, so that, though Chelsea played a lot in front of the defence, they did not penetrate often. Great last-ditch block on Oscar late on. 7

Alex Bruce Performed ably enough in general but, perhaps tired late on, let Torres get by him too easily, and did not show him inside into the other defensive bodies. 5

James Chester Over-run by Chelsea’s rampant midfielders. 5

Tom Huddlestone Was not able to exert his usual play-making role due to the strong pressing of the Chelsea players. 5

David Meyler Failed to provide Sagbo with much service. 6

James Livermore Was more than willing to put in the physical work, as Luiz found out in the first half, but, in terms of skill, was outclassed. 5

George Boyd A fairly new starter for Hull, Boyd looked a bit out of his depth and struggled to give much service to Sagbo. 5

Yannick Sagbo Held play up well early on, but then blazed a good opportunity well wide after 25 minutes. 5

Substitutes

Robert Koren N/A

Matty Fryatt N/A

Stephen Quinn N/A

Chelsea

Petr Cech Assured with what little he had to deal with on his 209th clean sheet. 6

Ashley Cole Dealt competently with the mild threat Elmohamady posed in the first half. 6

Gary Cahill Dealt well enough with Sagbo’s limited threat. 6

John Terry Suffered a bad lapse of concentration to let Sagbo in in the first half, but was not troubled much after that. 6

Cesar Azpilicueta Got forward to put in a few crosses and helped a few moves. Was threatened little as Hull’s formation offered little width. 6

Ramires A typically industrious performance from the Brazillian. 6

David Luiz Mourinho seem to have – finally – found the right position for Luiz, as a ball-playing centre-midfielder, as he has fine distribution and his occasionally lapses of concentration and flights of fancy aren’t so easily punished here. 7

Eden Hazard (Man of the match) Always looked the most dangerous player for Chelsea in the first half, something which was vindicated by his superb solo effort – picking up the ball with his back to goal on the corner of the box, moving inside, deceiving his man with a fake shot, then driving the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards. Also, danced passed Hull players all day long. 8

Oscar Did not produce any of his regular magic, but kept Chelsea’s attack ticking along nicely. 7

Willian Showed a lot of energy, and was a focal point in much of Chelsea’s play. Maybe not quite as dangerous at Mata, but probably gets the nod over him, in Mourinho’s eyes at least, due to his work rate. 7

Fernando Torres Largely anonymous most of the game, and looking far from the player he was at Liverpool. But took his goal well. 6

Substitutes

John Obi Mikel N/A

Andre Schurrle N/A

Michael Essien N/A