UK Edition
Chelsea 2 Hull 0: Diego Costa returns to Antonio Conte's team to get Blues back to winning ways
This was the weekend that the Premier League title became Chelsea’s to lose as Antonio Conte’s men extended their lead to eight points and Diego Costa made a goalscoring return to the team.
Only Arsenal’s late winner against Burnley prevented what would have amounted to a perfect 48 hours for Chelsea, who had seen Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United all drop points.
But, regardless of Arsenal’s three points, Chelsea are looking more and more like champions elect as they secured their 15th victory in 16 Premier League games.
This is only the fourth time a club have amassed 55 points or more after 22 Premier League games and on the two previous occasions Chelsea have, in 2004/05 and 2005/06, they have won the title.
Should the Blues come through their next two Premier League games against Liverpool and Arsenal unscathed then there will surely be no stopping Conte’s relentless side.
They were a long way from their best against relegation battlers Hull City but, unlike many of their rivals, Chelsea have the ability to grind out victories when they are tested.
Conte’s men also keep clean sheets. This was their 13th of the season and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was busier than many people would have predicted.
The Chelsea fans like to sing about the magic hat of Cesc Fabregas, but it was the magic touch of Conte that was once again evident against Hull.
His handling of the Costa situation proved to be spot on, as the striker marked his 100th appearance with a vital goal and, at least for now, drew a line under the bust-up over a back injury and a lucrative offer from China that had seen him miss the victory over Leicester City.
Aside from getting his Costa decision right, Conte made the perfect substitution late on when Chelsea were under pressure, as he sent on Fabregas and the midfielder provided the free-kick from which Gary Cahill headed the second goal.
All the pre-match attention had focused on Costa, who quickly demonstrated that his back was feeling just fine with a volley that bounced narrowly wide after just 10 seconds.
The Stamford Bridge crowd had reacted positively to Costa’s name when it was read out before kick-off and they used a break in play following a clash of heads between Cahill and Ryan Mason to reaffirm their support for the club’s top scorer.
Costa waved back as his name was chanted and medics administered oxygen to Mason, who left the pitch on a stretcher after eight minutes of treatment.
David Meyler replaced Mason, who was taken to St Mary’s Hospital for further treatment and tests, and it was during the nine minutes of time added on largely for his injury that Costa put Chelsea ahead.
In the seventh minute of injury-time, Marcos Alonso swept the ball out to Victor Moses on the right whose low cross was side-footed into the net by Costa while Hull were complaining about a Cahill foul on Abel Hernández. Responding to over a week of stories regarding his row and Leicester no-show, Costa celebrated by making a talking gesture into both ears.
He clearly likes to be the centre of attention and Conte will hope all the talk is now about the 28-year-old’s goals for the remainder of the campaign. Before Costa’s opener, the impressive Harry Maguire had gone close for Hull. First, he headed straight at Courtois from a corner and the Belgian did even better to push a shot from the defender around the post.
Curtis Davies was perhaps lucky to come out for the second half, having escaped a second booking for a foul on Pedro towards the end of the first period.
Chelsea were even more fortunate that a penalty was not awarded against them four minutes after the restart when Alonso clearly clipped the heel of Hernandez, but the protests of Hull manager Marco Silva were ignored by referee Neil Swarbrick.
Meyler then forced Courtois into a low save with a powerful driven shot as Hull started the second half brightly. Davies did come off on the hour mark with an injury, as Silva replaced the defender with on-loan striker Oumar Niasse in an attempt to find an equaliser.
With Chelsea failing to keep the ball and inviting pressure on to themselves, an increasingly frustrated Conte made two changes of his own by sending on Fabregas and Willian.
The double switch paid dividends with 10 minutes remaining, as Fabregas sent in a free-kick from the left that Cahill headed past Eldin Jakupovic to secure another valuable win.
Conte, as he always does, celebrated wildly, but Silva will not have been quite so impressed with the impact of his own substitute Niasse, who had ducked under the set piece of Fabregas to gift Cahill what amounted to a free header.
Costa should have extended Chelsea’s advantage even further when he was sent through by Fabregas, but the Spain international could not beat Jakupovic and left to a standing ovation when he was replaced by Michy Batshuayi.
Conte’s rivals will be wondering if he will ever make a wrong call over the remaining months of the season. It may already be too late for them, even if he does.
88 mins
I have a friend who isn't particularly technically gifted when it comes to playing football, but he is always on the winning team because he has this incredibly innate ability to win every 50/50 or go past any tackle that comes in on him. It's like a computer glitch where the ball keeps bouncing back to his feet as he stumbles his way through. Diego Costa is like that but also really good at football. He's just been replaced by Batshuayi, who gets his customary five minutes to earn that appearance fee.
80 mins
What a run by Kante! He bursts forward from the halfway line and carries the team up to the Hull box. Willian goes down under a challenge from David Meyler, who is a very keen Fifa 17 player it turns out, and Chelsea have a free-kick in a dangerous position. I think Fabregas and Willian have made the the Chelsea shape a 4-2-3-1.
74 mins
Niasse's first touch is poor and he loses control but makes up for it by falling to the ground and winning a free-kick in the final third. It's crossed into the box but there are players offside in the area.
Marco Silva is giving a million instructions to every single player he puts on the pitch. I really hope they understand and remember them because he seems to know what he's doing.
You can see here that Hull's shape has changed a wee bit since the first half.
Diomande is on for Hernandez.
71 mins
Niasse, who is that chap that Ronald Koeman deemed such a bad player he didn't even register him in his Everton squad, has not been amazing so far. He's booted the ball long once and punted it straight out for a goal kick. Fabregas has come on for Hazard - Conte wants to regain control of the midfield.
Pedro is off for Willian.
65 mins
Niasse has gone onto the right side of midfield and Hull, I think, have changed to a back four.
Hernandez tries to win a long ball near the penalty area and battles with Luiz. He waits for contact and takes things into his own hand, literally, as he grabs the ball as he falls to the floor. The referee gives Chelsea a free-kick instead.
59 mins
Hull look pretty good here. Robertson is getting forward much more this half and it's giving Hull more of a chance to attack. David Luiz catches Clucas and there's a good chance to shoot from 25 yards from the free-kick. Davies has gone off with a hamstring injury and been replaced by Oumar Niasse.
GOAL!
Chelsea take the lead just before the break - Diego Costa has made it 1-0.
That's why they keep crossing it in! When the ball is played in low they get a chance to shoot and Costa pulls off the defenders into space and hits a great shot first time into the back of the net. Great work from Moses down the right.
45 mins +6
Maguire loses out in a Battle Of Strength with Diego Costa but the striker is then penalised for fouling him... another strange decision, in my humble and definitely correct opinion. Chelsea still can't find a way to score.
AND THEN!
Kante is millimetres away from converting a low cross at the near post.
45 mins +3
Davies, who has already been booked, is very lucky indeed not to get a second yellow for a late, painful tackle on Pedro. Pedro recovers miraculously to take the kick from wide right of the area but Dawson heads it away. Nobody is really attacking the ball in the area for Chelsea so I'm not entirely sure why they keep crossing it into there.
32 mins
Hull are working hard to prevent crosses from wide areas and Chelsea win a few corners that come to nothing as a result. Hazard and Alonso are linking well down the left and nearly one-two their way for a shot at goal. Pedro goes down while off balance as Davies barges into him but it's not a penalty.
26 mins
The atmosphere in the stadium has gone somewhat quieter now as supporters remember that football is basically just a silly thing to watch to pass the time. Cahill is on the pitch still and seems to be fine, even if his long passing forwards isn't.
Hull are playing quite well here - Maguire is getting forward down the right and wins a corner. And there's a free header in the box! Courtois saves! Ooooooooh that was close.
14 mins
There's a really nasty clash of heads between Ryan Mason and Gary Cahill, as the latter absolutely flies in to header the former's skull. The referee and both sets of players urgently ask for medical attention to come onto the field. That looks sore as hell. Mason in particular is in a really bad way. Cahill looks dazed, which is hardly surprising.
The managers say
Antonio Conte
I try to make best decision for the team and for this reason I decided to start with Diego.
Yesterdays results show this league is very tough and we must fight.
Marco Silva
It's a problem (Snodgrass unavailable) but this moment we need to concentrate in our players available for the game. It's better when I have all the players in my mind but we believe in the other players.
Pedro is really good
And Antonio Conte reckons he's back to his Barcelona form.
He’s playing in a fantastic way, not only scoring goals but he is also playing good football, with and without the ball,” Conte said. “He’s always in the right position to press to win the ball and also to score goals. We are seeing the best moments of Pedro. This is the Pedro who played this type of football when he was at Barcelona.
Team news
Uhhhhh you guys... Diego Costa is playing! He starts upfront!
Chelsea
Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Diego Costa, Hazard
Subs: Begovic, Ake, Zouma, Chalobah, Fabregas, Willian, Batshuayi.
Hull
Jakupovic; Maguire, Dawson, Davies, Elabdellaoui; Mason, Huddlestone, Clucas, Robertson; Evandro, Hernández
Preview
What is it?
It's Chelsea vs Hull City in the Premier League.
When is it?
Sunday January 22.
What time is kick-off?
This one starts at 4.30pm GMT, slightly later because of a triple bill of Premier League fixtures.
What TV channel is it on?
You'll be able to watch the game on Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 1 HD or Sky Sports Ultra HD. Alternatively, we will be bringing you live updates right here throughout the afternoon.
What is the team news?
Chelsea:
Striker Diego Costa is fit to return from a back injury when Premier League leaders Chelsea play Hull on Sunday.
Costa missed last weekend's win at Leicester amid speculation over his future and interest from China, but is committed to the cause, Conte says.
Captain John Terry is available again following suspension, but is likely to be a substitute at best.
Provisional squad: Courtois, Begovic, Ivanovic, Alonso, Fabregas, Zouma, Kante, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Pedro, Costa, Matic, Willian, Batshuayi, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Luiz, Eduardo, Aina, Ake.
Hull:
Hull winger Robert Snodgrass is an injury doubt for his side's visit to Premier League leaders Chelsea.
The Scotland international has been forced to sit out training this week due to a muscle strain and will be monitored by head coach Marco Silva, who has no other new injury worries.
Jake Livermore's £10million move to West Brom was completed on Friday morning, while recent signings Oumar Niasse and Evandro could make their full debuts. Midfielder David Meyler is hoping to be in contention after returning to training.
Provisional squad: Jakupovic, Marshall, Robertson, Maguire, Dawson, Davies, Huddlestone, Hernandez, Snodgrass, Clucas, Diomande, Mason, Evandro, Meyler, Weir, Niasse, Tymon, Bowen.
What are they saying?
Antonio Conte on Diego Costa:
"Yes. He's available for the game against Hull City," Conte said.
"He restarted having training sessions on Tuesday with the rest of the team.
"I think the player wants to stay at Chelsea. He's very happy to play with us. This idea (to move) is far from his mind.
"Diego is a good player. He's a good person. Now he's only focused on Chelsea and to play with us and to continue to help us.
"He missed only one game, the last game. Now he's ready to come back with us.
"I'm sure about his commitment, his behaviours, his will to fight with this team, to try together to fight to the end to try to win the title."
Marco Silva on Jake Livermore:
"If you asked me if I wanted to lose Jake, my answer is no," Silva told a press conference before Saturday's game at Premier League leaders Chelsea.
"Of course he was a very important player for us and it's never good when you lose an important player.
"But it was a very good proposal for him and the club have a good proposal also. The deal is closed. This is football.
"What we need in this moment is to find a quick replacement for this player because we've lost an important one."
What are the odds?
Chelsea - 1/5
Hull - 7/1
Draw - 20/1
What's our prediction?
Matt Law: All eyes will be on Diego Costa, whether he returns to the starting line-up or is on the substitutes' bench. The reaction of the Stamford Bridge crowd towards the striker who missed the victory over Leicester City following a bust-up with Antonio Conte will also be interesting.
Prediction: Chelsea 3 Hull City 0