Chelsea make hard work of FA Cup win over Hull City following strong start
Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round as Michy Batshuayi and Fikayo Tomori struck to give the Blues a hard-fought 2-1 win over Hull at the KCOM Stadium.
The Blues dominated for long periods and at one stage this was in danger of following a familiar frustrating pattern as Frank Lampard’s side missed a host of chances after Batshuayi’s sixth-minute opener.
Tomori thought he had settled any lingering nerves with a 64th-minute header but Hull substitute Kamil Grosicki’s deflected free-kick 14 minutes later left the Blues needing to see out a fraught finale to seal their spot in Monday’s draw.
As expected, Lampard made wholesale changes to his starting line-up with only Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mateo Kovacic and Cesar Azpilicueta retaining their places from Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
Despite the alterations, the Blues started with cohesion and purpose as Mateo Kovacic quickly began to dictate play. It was the 25-year-old’s superb raking pass to Cesar Azpilicueta which triggered the opening goal.
Azpilicueta crossed for Mount, who couldn’t follow up an excellent first touch with a clear shot at goal but his effort rebounded to Batshuayi, who scored via a deflection off Hull defender Ryan Tafazolli for his first goal since October 30.
The home side looked palpably deflated and Chelsea went in search of the kill. Mount released Barkley but George Long rushed off his line to block the shot.
Long was similarly alert to keep out Mount when sent clear by Kovacic and on the touchline Lampard was visibly frustrated as the game threatened to follow a similar pattern with Chelsea unable to translate their superiority into a convincing scoreline.
Long beat away Azplicueta’s close-range effort at his near post on the stroke of half time, a break Hull needed to regroup and redouble their efforts.
They came out for the second period with fresh impetus. Jarrod Bowen, the 23-year-old winger attracting interest from Leeds and several Premier League clubs, began to cause Marcus Alonso frequent problems down the Chelsea left.
He ended another run just before the hour mark, this time from a central position but still holding off Alonso as he surged forward, with a shot that whistled over Willy Caballero’s crossbar as Hull, currently 12th in the Championship, tried desperately to generate some momentum.
However, as they were enjoying their best spell of the match, the Tigers were undone by the simplest of goals at the other end. Leonardo Da Silva Lopes clipped Mount as he made a powerful run and from the resulting free-kick, Barkley swing over a cross to the back post for Tomori to score his second goal for Chelsea – and against the club he spent the 2017-18 campaign on loan – with a firm downward header.
Lampard introduced Willian and youngster Billy Gilmour for Mount and Hudson-Odoi – a double change the home side mirrored with Josh Magennis and Martin Samuelsen replacing Tom Eaves and George Honeyman – but it was Pedro who went closest next, dragging a left-foot shot inches wide.
The Spaniard hit the side-netting with another opportunity shortly afterwards as Hull struggled to muster a response. Yet, out of nothing, they found themselves back in it with 12 minutes to play.
Alonso gave away a needless free-kick, taken by Grosicki. His initial shot may have been off target but it took a huge deflection off Kovacic and flew into the far corner, Caballero left helpless to react.
Suddenly, they played with renewed belief as Chelsea’s defending became increasingly frantic to keep them at bay. But Lampard’s side held on to progress and ensure their Premier League winter break is not disrupted by an unwanted cup replay.
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