LONDON: Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres applied the gloss to a workmanlike 2-0 victory at Hull City that lifted Chelsea ominously to the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
In true Jose Mourinho style, the Londoners first nullified the minimal threat posed by Hull, then cut through at will after the break when classy goals by Hazard and Torres earned the Blues a fourth consecutive league victory.
Mourinho’s in-form side have 46 points, one more than second-placed Arsenal who visit Aston Villa on Monday and two ahead of Manchester City who travel to Newcastle United on Sunday.
“Do we like to be leaders? Yes, we like, but maybe tomorrow we are second and maybe Monday we are third,” manager Mourinho told reporters.
“The important thing is we all know we are going in the right direction.”
Everton are also on the up, rising to fourth with 41 points courtesy of a 2-0 home win over Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur have 40 in fifth after beating Crystal Palace 2-0.
With Sunderland winning 4-1 at Fulham (thanks to an Adam Johnson hat-trick) and West Ham United sinking Cardiff City 2-0, Palace now prop up the table although only three points separate the bottom six.
New West Bromwich Albion manager Pepe Mel watched his new club lose 1-0 at mid-table Southampton.
Champions Manchester United were set to try to snap a three-match losing run when hosting Swansea City in the late kickoff, a week after the Welsh side knocked them out of the FA Cup.
It was about as stress-free a Saturday lunchtime as Chelsea could have wished for.
They easily coped with Hull’s lacklustre attacks and when they needed it, Hazard provided the spark.
The Belgian fired a low shot home 10 minutes after the break after a jinking burst and Spain striker Torres marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a clinical late strike.
A thoroughly satisfying day for Mourinho also witnessed goalkeeper Petr Cech set a club record of 209 clean sheets, 150 of them in the league.
The Czech international was barely troubled as he edged in front of Chelsea great Peter Bonetti, his only save of note coming from Jake Livermore’s swerving effort before halftime.
Without setting the league on fire Chelsea are beginning to hit top gear at just the right time, churning out wins and cleans sheets just as they did in Mourinho’s first stint in charge.
After a dull start Hazard carved out Chelsea’s first chance on the half hour, teeing up Oscar with a neat pull back but the Brazilian’s point-blank shot was brilliantly turned over the crossbar by Allan McGregor.
McGregor also had to be on his toes to deal with a dipping shot from David Luiz before halftime as Chelsea gradually asserted their superiority.
Hazard broke through after 56 minutes, rifling a shot past McGregor after skipping away from Hull’s defence.
One goal looked like being enough for the Londoners but Torres made absolutely sure of the points after 87 minutes when he raced clear to beat McGregor. (Reuters)
