Chelsea 2-0 Hull City: Player ratings

Diego Costa silenced his doubters on Sunday evening, putting in a man of the match performance as Chelsea overcame a stubborn Hull City side 2-0.

Willian made way for Costa, in an otherwise unchanged team, and Conte’s faith was almost repaid within 10 seconds of the game kicking off when the Spanish forward fired narrowly wide from 20 yards out. Chelsea continued to struggle in their attempts to break down Hull’s defence and were it not for the Tigers lack of fire power up top the, the game may well have seen a different outcome.

Ryan Mason was then brought off and rushed straight to hospital with a head injury, and the subsequent lengthy stoppage time played straight into Chelsea’s hands, as Costa struck the ball home from Victor Moses’ pull back seven minutes into the nine allotted minutes at the end of the first-half.

After the break it was then Hull’s turn to toil in front of goal, with Thibaut Courtois making some smart stops from David Meyler and Omar Elabdellaoui, even centre-half Harry Maguire, who played superbly at the back for Hull, had four shots on goal.

The game was wrapped up with 10 minutes to go when Cesc Fabregas whipped the ball to the far post for Gary Cahill to head in from close range. Chelsea are now eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table and play Brentford at home in the FA Cup next weekend.