Chelsea back on track against Hull

Normal service was resumed as Chelsea responded to their defeat against leaders Liverpool by beating Hull City 3-0 here on Wednesday and bringing the home side back down to earth after their excellent start to the Premier League season.

The outcome at the KC Stadium was never in doubt after an early goal from Frank Lampard.

Further strikes from Frenchmen Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda were scant reward for Chelsea's domination.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's may have started the game level on points with Hull, but there was a massive class gap between the two teams.

Hull had not conceded a goal for 309 minutes going into the game. It was an impressive record that they managed to extend until only the third minute of this match.

Lampard seized on Paul McShane's poor clearance and took a touch before chipping the ball over keeper Boaz Myhill and inside the far post for the 99th league goal of his career.

Hull had already achieved victories over Fulham, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United during their unexpected climb into third place.

Those successes meant the surprise package of the Premier League found themselves level with Chelsea on 20 points and already half-way to the survival target set by their manager Phil Brown.

But Hull soon discovered that a visit from Chelsea provides a special kind of challenge. The Londoners arrived on Humberside unbeaten away from home in 2008 and winners of their last four games on the road.

So it was no surprise that they were able to build on their goal to provide a testing opening spell for Hull as Myhill saved from Joe Cole, back after a three-week absence with a foot injury, and was struggling to deal with a Lampard free-kick that went narrowly wide.

However, this is a Hull team full of confidence and they responded impressively. While Chelsea continued to dominate the possession, Hull forward Daniel Cousin was still able to find space on the edge of the area for a shot that was deflected on to a post with Chelsea keeper Petr Cech beaten.

Then Cech had to deal with a shot from Geovanni that bounced awkwardly in front of him, but it was to be the final hint of a Hull goal before the interval.

Anelka then went closest to a second Chelsea goal that would have left Hull facing a near-impossible task in the second-half.

Joe Cole and Ashley Cole were both involved in a slick build-up that set up Anelka for a fierce first-time effort that Myhill somehow touched over the bar.

Nevertheless, there was much in the opening 45 minutes to convince Hull that they are capable of competing with the likes of Chelsea, although their hopes of beating the London club effectively vanished when they conceded a second goal five minutes into the second-half.

Myhill, so impressive in the first-half, was the player to blame as he waited for a long clearance from Jose Boswinga to reach him inside the area when it would have been safer to kick clear.

Anelka sensed the chance and nipped in to take the ball away from Myhill and score in the empty net. The immediate substitution of Joe Cole, tiring after his lay-off, suggested that Scolari also thought the game was won.

Now the main interest was in whether Malouda would get the goal he deserved and he twice went close before scoring from Richardo Carvalho's cross in the 75th minute to produce a scoreline that reflected Chelsea's dominance.