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Five talking points from Chelsea's win at Hull City

William celebrates after opening the scoring at Hull

From Chelsea's formation switch to Cesc Fabregas' future, Peter Smith rounds up the talking points from the Blues' win at Hull...

Chelsea got back on track with a 2-0 win at Hull City on Saturday.

Blues boss Antonio Conte had asked for patience from his club's supporters after their promising start stuttered in September with a draw at Swansea and defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.

And, after a poor first-half performance, his side delivered in the second period at the KCOM Stadium, with Diego Costa playing a vital role. Here we look at the key talking points from Chelsea's win…

Blues back to winning ways

After going three games without a win in the Premier League - including morale-damaging defeats to rivals Liverpool and Arsenal - Chelsea were in desperate need of a fillip on Saturday. A goalless first-half, in which the visitors failed to fire a single shot on target, wasn't what they needed but Conte and his players deserve credit for the way they raised their level after the interval.

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Hull 0-2 Chelsea

Some magic from Willian and an impressive finish from Costa put the game out of reach for the hosts, moved the Londoners up to sixth and delighted their boss.

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"After two defeats, this win is very important for the table," he said. "We are working really hard and after two defeats it's not easy. You must work and find a resolution to change and improve. I think today we did a good performance with the right intensity and the right pressure. I like it when the team play it in this way, I like it so much."

Costa drives Chelsea to victory

The driving force behind that second-half transformation was surely Chelsea striker Costa. The Spain international struggled to make an impact in the first half, despite his team-mates enjoying plenty of possession, but he made his presence felt in the next 45 minutes.

Diego Costa of Chelsea celebrates scoring at Hull in the sides' Premier League clash
Image: Diego Costa impressed in the second half

Costa broke clear and cannoned a shot against the post on 58 minutes before another surging run saw him come through a couple of challenges to lay the ball off for Willian, who expertly curled home Chelsea's opener. Costa then got in on the act himself, clipping the ball into the top corner from just inside the box.

Costa's four shots and his three successful dribbles all came in the second period, highlighting his improvement after the break.  

Chelsea switch to 3-5-2

Chelsea kept their first clean sheet in eight away Premier League games on Saturday, and on the face of it a switch to Conte's preferred 3-5-2 may appear to have been the solution. But that's not to say the Blues were completely watertight; Hull had their chances.

Dieumerci Mbokani of Hull City and David Luiz of Chelsea battle for possession  during the Premier League match between Hull Ci
Image: David Luiz formed part of a three-man central defence

Robert Snodgrass drew a superb save from Thibaut Courtois with a deflected free-kick, while Ryan Mason wasted an opening just before the break.

But overall, Conte can be satisfied with the result and the second-half display. Expect him to persist with the system which brought him so much success at Juventus.  

Victor Moses impresses

One beneficiary of Conte's switch to 3-5-2 was Victor Moses, who came in for Fabregas to play as right wing-back. The Nigeria international has spent much of his Chelsea career out on loan but he's been handed his chance to impress by Conte and seems eager to take it.

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Matt Le Tissier gives his view on Hull City's 2-0 loss to Chelsea.

Moses made more crosses than any other player (eight), and his performance impressed Soccer Saturday pundit Matt Le Tissier. "If he played like that every week I could see him having a future [at Chelsea]," Le Tissier said. "I'd probably give him my man of the match award.

"He drove forward at every opportunity, really threatened Hull and took the game to them, which not many of the other Chelsea players were doing. He was confident enough to keep driving forward and if he keeps playing like that I'm sure he does have a future there."

Fabregas sidelined again

However, one Chelsea player who appears to be struggling to impress Conte is Fabregas. The midfielder made his first Premier League start of the season at old club Arsenal last weekend but with the Blues three goals down, the midfielder was withdrawn with barely 55 minutes on the clock.

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Antonio Conte says he's pleased his Chelsea side bounced back from two defeats in a row to get back to winning ways, after winning away at Hull 2-0.

Fabregas was back on the bench for the trip to Hull and the Spaniard - who once again missed out on an international call up due to a lack of game time - must be wondering what future he has at the club under the Italian's management.

The 29-year-old playmaker could only watch on as summer signing N'Golo Kante, at the heart of the action, made more passes (79), more successful passes (70) and had more touches (95) than he'd had in any of his previous 43 Premier League matches.

With Chelsea enjoying so much possession but struggling to unlock their hosts' defence in the first period, Fabregas would surely have been hoping to be introduced. Instead, he remained in the dugout as Oscar, Pedro and Nathaniel Chalobah were all preferred substitutions.

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