Chelsea 2-0 Hull City - Match Reports, Reaction and Goal Videos
Matt The Blue |
Match Reports
The Guardian, Daniel Taylor: “The stadium announcer cleared his throat and held up his microphone. “I’m looking forward to introducing this manager more than the last one,” he told the crowd. Stamford Bridge bellowed its approval and the new era was underway. … [I]t was probably a surprise they did not mark the occasion with a proper thrashing given the way they pummelled their opponents in that opening period. Chelsea’s pace dropped after the interval. They had started to look a little jaded before the end and, for ten minutes or so, Hull were even emboldened enough to start threatening Petr Cech’s goal.”
The Daily Telegraph, Henry Winter: “At times this felt like a testimonial for Jose Mourinho rather than a Premier League contest. Hull City stirred only in short periods, mainly being outclassed by a Chelsea side who benefited from excellent first-half goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard and a highly promising display from Kevin De Bruyne. The points were easily claimed, the sun shone and all felt good for Chelsea fans. Mourinho was “home” and rapturously acclaimed. Issues remain, such as David Luiz’s future and whether Romelu Lukaku should be starting ahead of Fernando Torres, but otherwise the Bridge was awash with positives.”
The Independent, Sam Wallace: “Jose Mourinho tried hard to keep it low-key when he finally emerged from the tunnel to take his seat yesterday. The problem is that when more than 40,000 people are singing your name, some of whom are wearing masks bearing your likeness, the situation requires more than just a cursory wave. He stood up and sat down three times, eventually blowing kisses to the Chelsea supporters and then, as the game started, he began writing notes on a pad. The love-in was clearly a source of anxiety for him on his return to Stamford Bridge as manager after almost six years away but he needed not worry. His unbeaten home record in the league was never going to be challenged.”
The Official Chelsea FC Website: “A comfortable win kicked off the season with the damage to newly promoted Hull done during a bright first half. Oscar scored our first goal of the campaign followed by a stunning free-kick from Frank Lampard, atoning in style for an early saved penalty. Our all-time record scorer went close again later in the game and good goalkeeping prevented a bigger win, as did greater resistance from the visitors after the break. Jose Mourinho handed three players their first Chelsea competitive games, Kevin De Bruyne making a full debut and Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel introduced in the second half.”
“I’m very happy, I was saying before about the quality, dynamic and creativity. 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.
“In the second half when I saw it going in another direction I was a bit frustrated because I wanted more, but after five or 10 minutes I was thinking that we didn’t because we couldn’t, you can’t play that way for 90 minutes.
“In the second half we had no physical energy or mental availability to play that way. The three boys behind Fernando in the first half were fantastic but in the second half they disappeared. All of them played national team matches. Kevin played 85 minutes against France, Oscar played 80 minutes against Switzerland and Eden played 70 minutes against France.
“When the creativity disappeared we lost the danger in our game. I tried to make a couple of changes but at that time the game was bad, we sat back but our defensive block was very comfortable. The second half wasn’t comparable to the first half but the first half was fantastic.
“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.”
Goals and Highlights