Chelsea manage to scrape three points – and they will be pivotal in the title race

At two goals to the good, Chelsea were cruising. Eden Hazard looked like one of the very best players in the world, never mind the Premier League, and Diego Costa scored a very nice goal indeed.

Then the Chelsea defence decided to make things a little bit interesting.

Branislav Ivanovic moved slower than a slug, Gary Cahill once again showed that he will be destroyed quicker than Anderson’s cheeseburger when anything with a modicum of pace runs at him and John Terry looked jaded – no wonder given the minutes he has spent on the pitch this season.

Thibaut Courtois made a huge error – which he atoned for with a treble save anyone in the world would be proud of later in the game to keep his side level – and it took Loic Remy coming on late in the day to secure the game less than a minute after entering the field of play.

It was the fourth goal in four games against Hull for Remy and a welcome one for the Blues – who do like to leave it late against the Tigers and did so during the reign of Carlo Ancelotti, to be saved by Didier Drogba that time.

Had Chelsea dropped points, you can only imagine how that would have gone down with Jose Mourinho. Not to mention the media and the chasing pack.

There would have been a title race with more than just Manchester City fancying their chances and with Chelsea still to play Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, things would have started to look pretty sticky for the Blues.

Now however they have one more win on their way to domestic domination. It was not pretty. At times it was very nervy. But it was three points and at this stage of the season, that is all that matters.

Oh and to top it off, Diego Costa is now ‘injured’ and will have to pull out of the Spanish national team’s squad. Happy days for Jose indeed.

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