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Chelsea’s Loïc Rémy snatches win after Hull fightback rattles leaders Chelsea’s Loïc Rémy snatches win after Hull fightback rattles leaders
(about 1 hour later)
They got there in the end but Chelsea were made to exert themselves to maintain their dominant position in the Premier League title race after Thibaut Courtois’ blunder on the Humber. It is now surely José Mourinho’s Premier League title to lose after Loïc Rémy ironed out a bump on the road for Chelsea with the late winner.
It took a late winner from the substitute Loïc Rémy to finally defeat Hull City, whose prospects of taking points for their own relegation fight were aided by Courtois’ part in their 27th minute equaliser. Six points and a game in hand over their nearest challengers, the characteristics of their play at both ends of this victory bode well – two quality goals in the opening 10 minutes and a clinical purloining of the points with less than a quarter of an hour remaining – their subservience to a spirited Hull in between forgotten as they enter the international break.
Any result appeared possible after that but Chelsea finished the contest like champion teams do, by glossing over an indifferent performance and securing victory. Pegged back by a draw against Southampton seven days previously, recent history threatened to repeat itself before Rémy replaced Diego Costa a quarter of an hour from the end and scuffed in the winner off Allan McGregor’s boots a couple of minutes later to provide Chelsea with what Mourinho described as their most dominant position of the campaign.
The start also highlighted their class. Within 10 minutes Chelsea made a mockery of Hull’s relatively sound defence – at kick-off no team outside the top six had conceded fewer than their 37 goals and their recent shipping was a modest three in five – with a couple of imperious finishes. “The title race should be over. In normal conditions Chelsea should have eight to 10 points more than we have and it’s over. But the reality is we have a six points lead which is our best situation for the whole season because the maximum distance we had was eight with 20 matches to go,” said Mourinho, whose side also have a game in hand, against bottom club Leicester. “I am pretty confident. I believe in my players.”
The first, dispatched from 20 yards by Eden Hazard’s left boot, owed a lot to hesitancy from the hosts once Diego Costa used his physicality to cushion the ball into the Belgian’s path. Allowed to proceed unopposed in a central position, Hazard gave Allan McGregor no chance with a shot that arrowed inside the Scottish goalkeeper’s left-hand post. Chelsea certainly started and finished like champions. Within 10 minutes they had made a mockery of Hull’s relatively sound defence – at kick-off no team outside the top six had conceded fewer than their 37 goals – with a couple of imperious finishes.
The second, emanating from Hull’s gifting of possession midway through their own half, was equally clinical. Cesc Fàbregas threaded a pass into Costa’s stride and although the angle was difficult on the left side of the area, the use of Michael Dawson as a shield to unsight McGregor, and the accuracy of the curling effort, combined to decisive effect. The first, dispatched from 20 yards by Eden Hazard’s left boot, owed to a combination of home hesitancy once Costa’s muscular lay-off cushioned the ball into the Belgian’s path. Allowed to proceed unopposed in a central position, Hazard gave McGregor no chance with a shot that arrowed inside the upright.
Given that Hull had not successfully come back from two goals behind to claim a share of any match this season, the portents for anything but an away win were not favourable. Earlier, this season they did erase Manchester City’s 2-0 advantage here but eventually lost 4-2. The second, emanating from Hull’s gifting of possession midway inside their own half, was equally clinical and nestled in a similar place in the net. Cesc Fàbregas threaded a pass into Costa’s stride and although the angle was difficult on the left side of the area, the use of Michael Dawson as a shield to unsight McGregor, and the accuracy of the curling effort combined for his 19th league goal of the season.
But there has been a greater resolve about the Yorkshire club since early February, a period coinciding with the arrival of Mike Phelan as Steve Bruce’s assistant and tactical scheming from the touchline between the pair midway through the opening period proved pivotal as, in 74 heady first-half seconds, Hull doubled their tally of goals against Chelsea to breathe new life both into the contest and indeed the title race. If the finish was typical Costa, so unfortunately were the second-half antics in which his elbow appeared to connect with Jake Livermore during a prolonged tussle between the pair at a corner. However, there were no gripes from the Hull camp post-match, with their manager Steve Bruce claiming not to have witnessed it.
Having started with the 3-5-2 formation that had resulted in nine points being collected from their previous six matches, Hull sacrificed one of their central defenders, repositioned Dame N’Doye onto the left flank and pushed Gastón Ramírez between a four-man midfield and his fellow Uruguayan Abel Hernández up front. However, a recurrence of Costa’s hamstring injury trouble may mean further reliance on Rémy. “When a guy with a lot of hamstring injuries says with 15 minutes to go it’s over for him, it’s over for him. He has this problem. He tried to play the Champions League final with Atlético and was injured again, and again, and again. He has this fragility so we know this hamstring is not a strong one,” said Mourinho, who dismissed any notion of surgery.
Twice they had threatened to halve the deficit through N’Doye before the changes, either side of the quarter-hour mark. Gary Cahill’s challenge on the cusp of the penalty area resulted in a cute free-kick being turned around the upright by Courtois, and from the subsequent dead-ball delivery N’Doye’s header proved too central. Like Hazard, who made it three in three, Rémy has a good scoring record against Hull and it was therefore no surprise he popped up to steer in Willian’s low centre from the right a dozen minutes after Thibaut Courtois’ act of redemption –- a triple save foiling Ahmed Elmohamady, Livermore and Gastón Ramírez shots in the space of five seconds.
Hull’s double strike – the fastest two goals by a side in the top flight this season – came courtesy of an increase in tempo. The Scotland full-back Andrew Robertson was the creator of the first, bursting past Willian and literally through Branislav Ivanovic to thread a centre into the six-yard box for the onrushing Ahmed Elmohamady to convert. “At half-time I told the players there was no point in analysing details and mistakes of the first half. The team felt deeply the 2-2 but the first minute of the second half they went back to quality football, to creation and I knew sooner or later the goal should arrive,” Mourinho said.
The noise levels around the KC Stadium had not diminished when Courtois’ clanger was punished for the equaliser. Ivanovic appeared to have tidied up another Hull attack but Ramírez’s refusal to give up on a lost cause led Courtois to panic and a heavy touch was pounced upon by Hernández. Hull’s comeback had been down to the tactical touchline scheming of Bruce and his recently-arrived assistant Mike Phelan midway through the first half. Having started with the 3-5-2 formation that had resulted in nine points being collected from their previous six matches, one of their central defenders was sacrificed, Dame N’Doye redeployed on the left flank and Ramírez wedged between a four-man midfield and his fellow Uruguayan, Abel Hernández, up front.
Earlier, between Chelsea’s opening two goals, Hull’s £10m record signing had found himself one-on-one with Courtois only for his composure to desert him. It was one of a dozen efforts on goal by the home team before the interval. It worked a treat as a double strike – the fastest two goals by a side in the top flight this season – had the KC Stadium rocking. Scotland full-back Andrew Robertson was the creator of the first as his burst past Willian and through Branislav Ivanovic preceded a centre that Elmohamady converted from six yards. Then came Courtois’ blunder on the Humber. Ivanovic appeared to have tidied up another Hull attack with a back pass but Ramírez’s refusal to give up a lost cause induced panic and a heavy touch was pounced upon by Hernández.
There were fewer after half-time but it took a triple save from Courtois to prevent Chelsea relinquishing a 2-0 dominance over a Yorkshire club for the second time in 2015 – Elmohamady, Jake Livermore and Ramírez all having chances beaten away in the 64th-minute. Ultimately, their endeavour proved futile, although Bruce sought succour in the performance of his team, who sit three points above the drop zone but have a daunting conclusion to the season: they play five of the top seven.
Courtois’ act of redemption at one end was then trumped at the other by a Mourinho switch as Rémy converted Willian’s low centre within two minutes of coming on to provide Chelsea with a six-point buffer at the top heading into the international break. “That’s as good as we’ve played for a long, long time, against the best team in England. We are obviously disappointed in the manner we’ve lost but we’ve created umpteen opportunities, and … the big turning point was the three saves by Courtois in quick succession,” said Bruce.