Tigers brought back down to earth

Hull had gone into the game at the KC Stadium trailing the Blues only on goal difference but a stunning strike from Frank Lampard after just two minutes established superiority.

The Tigers hit the post through Daniel Cousin but Nicolas Anelka pounced on a mistake and Florent Malouda struck from close range to settle the contest.

It was the perfect response from Chelsea after suffering a first defeat of the season at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday.

Hull, who had won their previous four games, battled hard but in the end were well beaten by a Chelsea side whose extra class was evident.

Chelsea, lifted by the return of Joe Cole, were soon into their stride as Lampard gave them an early lead with a delicate left-footed chip which oozed class.

The England midfielder displayed perfect technique to clip over the stranded Boaz Myhill after Paul McShane had dispossessed Malouda but failed to clear.

The hosts were inches away from an equaliser after 22 minutes as Cousin's low shot from 20 yards took a slight deflection and beat Petr Cech, only to bounce back off the post.

Chelsea doubled their lead in the 50th minute as Anelka capitalised on uncertainty in the home defence to nip past Micheal Turner and Kamil Zayatte and turn the ball home past Myhill.

And Malouda made up for some earlier misses as he reacted first to stab home a Ricardo Carvalho cross from close range after 75 minutes.