CRUISE FOR BLUES
Chelsea’s fringe stars put forward case to face Barca
IT’S amazing what the prospect of a game against Barcelona can do for a team. Admittedly, this was essentially a game against Hull City reserves, a side from the Championship so far out of their depth at Stamford Bridge they might as well have arrived clutching buoyancy aids.
Nevertheless, the nervous, anxious Chelsea of recent days and weeks was not visible here.
Hull were dismantled in a first half that was so complete from a Chelsea point of view that they could have scored double the four goals they amassed.
In midfield, Willian and Cesc Fabregas were full of life and artistry. They could not have expressed their interest in Champions League selection on Tuesday any more clearly had they written to their manager and asked for a game.
Meanwhile, there on the touchline — warming up eagerly — was Alvaro Morata, the striker who coach Antonio Conte said recently may miss the rest of the season with a back injury. With 20 minutes to go, the Spaniard was on.
So, with a much greater challenge lying in wait, this was a good night for Chelsea and a desperate one for Nigel Adkins and Hull.
Chelsea scored through Willian in the second minute and there was no looking back. Hull could not live with the Premier League team’s cleverness or indeed their appetite and by the end of a first half of endless chances Chelsea had scored three more through Pedro, Willian again and even Olivier Giroud.
There was a second-half rally from Hull but it ended after two minutes as they won a penalty and then missed it. David Meyler was the culprit as Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero flopped to his right and saved with two hands.
This looked like being a long night for Hull before a ball had been kicked. Within two minutes of the start, the task before them grew even harder.
Chelsea fielded an understrength team by design, whereas Adkins had little choice. The Hull manager was without three defenders on loan from Chelsea and missing other players, too. On reflection, this was a good night not to be involved.
Chelsea started briskly and were ahead after a minute and 53 seconds. The Brazilian Willian — star of the first half — picked up possession after a mistake from Hull’s Kevin Stewart, advanced ten yards or so and jinked inside to curl a superb shot into the far corner with his left instep.
Chelsea did not actually score their second and third goals until the 27th and 32nd minutes but had many more chances before that.
This was never a contest and a flurry of goals in the lead up to the break put daylight between Chelsea and the team from the Championship.
Fabregas played Pedro clear with a sumptuous, first-time ball over the top and the Chelsea forward controlled it equally well to drive low past Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall.
Stewart then gave the ball away again and watched in horror as Willian beat Marshall with a low shot from 20 yards. For some reason the Scottish goalkeeper chose not to dive and it looked as though he thought the shot was going wide. It wasn’t.
Then, three minutes before the break, Marshall was beaten again. Chelsea debutant Emerson found space and when he crossed low, Giroud steered the ball expertly in at the near post with his left foot.
Job done before half-time and Blues boss Conte wasted no time in focusing his attentions on Tuesday’s nights tie against Barca.
The Italian said: ‘Good game, good performance. It was great for us. The most important thing is that we are in the next round. Now we have to prepare for the game against Barcelona. We have our confidence back.’
LEICESTEr booked their place in the last eight with a 1-0 win over Sheffield United. Jamie Vardy’s scored the only goal.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Caballero; Rudiger, Ampadu, Cahill; Zappacosta, Fabregas (Scott 62), Drinkwater, Emerson; Willian, Giroud (Morata 70), Pedro (Hudson-Odoi 46). Subs not used: Eduardo, Chalobah, Sterling, Moses. Booked: Scott. HULL CITY (4-3-3): Marshall; Meyler, Dawson, MacDonald, Clark; Evandro, Stewart, Irvine (Batty 88); Wilson (Toral 55), Dicko (Campbell 72), Diomande. Subs not used: McGregor, Grosicki, Keane, Clackstone. Booked: Stewart, Irvine. Man of the match: Willian. Referee: Andre Marriner. Attendance: 39,591.