Chelsea 2-2 Hull City: Belloumi double at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea 2-2 Hull City was the day Hull finally conceded, and the day they showed they did not need a clean sheet to take something from a big ground. Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead after seven minutes at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the first league goal Hull had let in all season. Mohamed Belloumi then scored twice in six minutes to give the promoted side the lead, and it took João Pedro’s equaliser midway through the second half to rescue a point.
Chelsea had 67.8% of the ball and eleven corners. Hull, with less than a third of the possession, had more shots, thirteen to twelve, and hit the bar. They leave London unbeaten in the league after four matches, with eight points, and that unbeaten league record is one of the surprises of the opening month.
Rogers scores early again
Chelsea’s start was quick in a way that is becoming a habit. On seven minutes Rogers finished a fast break, assisted by João Pedro, with a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the bottom left corner. Chelsea have now scored inside the opening seven minutes in all four of their league matches: João Pedro in the first minute at Fulham, Romeo Lavia on four minutes against Brighton, Rogers after two at the Emirates and again here.
It also ended a run that had defined Hull’s start. They had beaten Manchester United 2-0, won 1-0 at Coventry and drawn 0-0 with Aston Villa without conceding. Rogers’s goal was the first league goal they had conceded, in their fourth match back in the Premier League.
Belloumi, twice in six minutes
Hull were level on twenty-eight minutes. Ryan Giles crossed and Belloumi finished left-footed from the centre of the box into the bottom right corner.
The second came in the thirty-fourth minute. Following a corner, Semi Ajayi headed a Regan Slater cross against the bar, and in the same minute Belloumi, assisted by Oliver McBurnie following a corner, hit a left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. From 1-0 down to 2-1 up in six minutes, away from home, with a third of the ball.
Konstantinos Tzolakis had already saved from Pedro Neto on twenty-two minutes, before either Hull goal, and early in the second half he saved from Reece James, from long range, on fifty-one. Hull’s own chances did not stop either: Emiliano Martínez saved twice in the sixty-first minute, from Regan Slater and McBurnie.
João Pedro’s equaliser
The goal Chelsea needed arrived on sixty-six minutes. Cole Palmer found João Pedro in the centre of the box and he finished left-footed into the top left corner. It was his third league goal of the season.
Chelsea could have won it. Tzolakis saved from James again on seventy-six, from Rogers on eighty-four and from the substitute Estêvão in stoppage time. Martínez, at the other end, had to save from Mohamed-Ali Cho on eighty-seven. Hull finished with five yellow cards, four of them in the second half, and Chelsea with one, for Valentín Barco.
- Morgan Rogers (Chelsea), 7 minutes: assisted by João Pedro on a fast break
- Mohamed Belloumi (Hull City), 28 minutes: assisted by Ryan Giles
- Mohamed Belloumi (Hull City), 34 minutes: from outside the box, after a corner
- João Pedro (Chelsea), 66 minutes: assisted by Cole Palmer
- Shots: Chelsea 12 (7 on target), Hull City 13 (5 on target)
- Possession: Chelsea 67.8%, Hull City 32.2%
Hull are unbeaten in the league, Chelsea keep conceding
Hull are fourth with eight points: two wins, two draws, no defeats, five goals scored and two conceded. Four matches into the season they have taken points from Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea, and they have also won at Coventry, which is a remarkable return for a side that came up in the summer.
Chelsea are sixth on seven points, and their matches continue to be the most open in the division. They have scored ten goals and conceded nine in four league games, nineteen in all, and they have conceded at least twice in every one of them. Scoring early every week has not yet produced a single comfortable afternoon.
The detail that should concern them most is the shot count. Hull had thirteen attempts with a third of the ball, one more than Chelsea managed with two thirds of it, and both of Hull’s goals came inside six minutes.
Simulate the rest of the Premier League season
Hull’s unbeaten league run and Chelsea’s open matches are two of the stranger stories of the opening month. On the Premier League simulator you can take the real table forward and see whether Hull stay in the top half, or run this fixture again through the AI simulator and see how often Chelsea hold their early lead.
- Play the remaining 34 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
- Run any fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
- Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
- Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share
"Chelsea have scored inside seven minutes in all four league matches. They have also conceded at least twice in every one of them."