Hull City stun Chelsea to lead at half-time
Newly promoted Hull City held a surprise 2-1 half-time lead over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after Mohamed Belloumi scored twice in six minutes.
Hull City stun Chelsea to lead at half-time
Newly promoted Hull City held a surprise 2-1 half-time lead over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Mohamed Belloumi scoring twice in the space of six minutes during a busy afternoon of Premier League fixtures.
How the game unfolded
Chelsea took an early lead in the 7th minute when Morgan Rogers beat goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis with a near-post finish — the first goal Hull (or Tzolakis) had conceded in the Premier League this season, according to the BBC. Hull hit back in the 28th minute when Belloumi pounced on a defensive error by Jorrel Hato, who misjudged the flight of a cross and let it bounce over his head, allowing the Algerian forward to level the score with his first Premier League goal. Six minutes later, in the 34th minute, Belloumi struck again — his shot deflecting in off Levi Colwill — to put the visitors 2-1 up, both goals being his first two in the competition.
That is how the sides went into the break, with Hull leading 2-1. The BBC's live coverage also noted that, at that point in the afternoon, the result put Hull top of the table, though this detail was not confirmed by other outlets.
Context
The match marked Hull City's first Premier League visit to Stamford Bridge since January 2017, following their promotion back to the top flight. According to Chelsea's official website, the Tigers arrived having taken seven points from their opening three fixtures of the season without conceding a goal.
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso made nine changes to his starting line-up following a midweek Carabao Cup tie in which the Blues came from two goals down to beat Leeds United 6-3. Compared with the previous league fixture against Arsenal, there were only two changes: Emiliano Martinez returned in goal behind a back three of Wesley Fofana, Colwill and Hato, with Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto at wing-back, Reece James (captain) and Romeo Lavia in midfield, and Cole Palmer, Rogers and Joao Pedro forming the front three.
BBC statistics highlighted that Rogers became the fifth different Chelsea player to score or assist in each of the club's opening four Premier League matches of a season, following Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard in previous campaigns.
Former defender Joel Ward, speaking on BBC's coverage, said Chelsea lack defensive solidity and cannot be considered genuine title contenders while conceding two or more goals per game.
The sources used for this report were published around half-time, so the final score of the match is not yet available.
