It took Chelsea just 106 seconds to take the lead — Willian with a wonderful left-footed curling effort in thte top corner — and have not let up, adding three more to lead comfortably at the half, 4-0. Hull have mustered maybe a shot and a few minutes of possession, but otherwise have been a non-factor so far.
Willian got his brace on the half-hour mark with another well-guided effort, this time with the right foot, but not before Pedro got his goal with a good finish from an excellent Fabregas ball over the top. Pedro was unlucky to not score a few minutes prior when only a late intervention from Michael Dawson saved Hull from further damage.
In addition to that creative trio, Olivier Giroud has been an absolute force of nature up top, holding off defenders, laying off balls, creating chances (2 assists and 1 secondary assist so far today), and even scoring his first goal for the club. The assist came from debutant Emerson (who wasn’t offside as the ball came to him from a Hull player’s tackle), adding more merriment to an already merry occasion.
With the bench chock-full of youth players, we should be seeing a few opportunities given out in the second half and Chelsea look to see out what should be an easy and low-key 45 minutes. Conte had wanted to give Morata a few minutes for fitness, but perhaps those would now be better utilized for the kids?
In any case, a perfect evening so far for the Blues and a perfect setup for Tuesday’s match against Barcelona.
Let’s get a couple more, for funsies.
COME ON, CHELSEA!