Hull 0-4 Chelsea

New Chelsea coach Avram Grant can afford himself a welcome sigh of relief after seeing his Blues ease into the last 16 of the Carling Cup with a 4-0 win at Hull.
Goals from 18-year-old Scott Sinclair, Steve Sidwell and two for Salomon Kalou ensures there will be no uncomfortable inquest for Grant.
His tenure is already under close scrutiny due to him lacking the relevant coaching badges required to manage in the Barclays Premier League.
The likes of Marco van Basten and Jurgen Klinsmann have been linked with the role - speculation which was strongly refuted by Chelsea.
But at least Grant has a win under his belt - even if only against the Coca-Cola Championship Tigers - which offers him a degree of breathing space.
Grant can initially thank Sinclair, whose delightful opener came eight minutes before the break at a time when Hull were growing in confidence.
This third round tie was settled by two goals in the space of seven minutes at the start of the second half, with a Kalou header followed by a searing drive from Sidwell before the former doubled his tally late on.
But even taking into account this was a supposedly 'weakened' Chelsea side, the divide in class was not apparent until the goals started to go in.
The appointment of the experienced, but unqualified Grant has done little to ease the anxiety of Blues fans fearful of the direction their club is now heading.
What cannot be denied is the quality of players Grant still has at his disposal, and that was case in point for this tie.
Grant made seven changes to the team beaten by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, with £21million Shaun Wright-Phillips, £8million Kalou, Claudio Pizarro and Carlo Cudicini named in the line-up.
On the bench at Grant's disposal was a further £60million worth of talent in Andriy Shevchenko, Claude Makelele, Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge.
The question still remains as to how such players will take to Grant's leadership, and whether they will respond to his methods as Abramovich seeks the entertaining football he has spent millions in the hope of watching.
The KC Stadium was clearly no place for silky skills and finesse as Hull are an earthy side, even if manager Phil Brown has been able to attract the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen of late,
Chelsea certainly had to dig in on occasions after the Tigers had weathered an opening four-minute storm in which the visitors had forced five corners.
Notably, goalkeeper Bo Myhill showed agility and fine reflexes in turning over the bar a drive from Sidwell and then a shot from Kalou around the post.
Hull proceeded to have their moments as they soon countered, with Okocha seeing a 20-yard effort deflected wide and Stephen McPhee thwarted by Juliano Belletti just as he was primed to shoot.
After Myhill had smothered another low drive from Kalou in the 19th minute and the defence had repelled a further three corners in quick succession before the 25-minute mark, Hull then began to seriously look capable of an upset.
But Chelsea upped a gear and after Myhill had saved from Wright-Phillips, the England winger then teed up Sinclair for his first for the club on his fifth appearance.
McPhee almost levelled before the break, but then after it Kalou headed home his first of the season in the 48th minute followed four minutes later by Sidwell's maiden goal since his summer move from Reading.
Credit to the Tigers as they refused to roll over and came close with sub Richard Garcia forcing a save from Cudicini, Ian Ashbee heading narrowly over the woodwork and Okocha shaving the bar with a rising free-kick.
In the end, it was Chelsea who added an exclamation point to the scoreline with Kalou sweeping home a low ball from substitute Joe Cole.
Grant hoping for more of the same
New Chelsea coach Avram Grant is hoping he tonight witnessed a brand of football which will continue to be seen throughout his reign.
Grant, whose position has been questioned because he lacks the necessary coaching qualifications to manage in the Barclays Premier League despite his undoubted experience gained elsewhere, was certainly a little more at ease following the game.
'I am happy with the performance,' said Grant.
'We scored four goals. All came from combinations and with movement from the players, so it is a good start.
'I want Chelsea to continue playing that kind of football, but I don't expect it will be like that in a few days' time.
'But I did like the goals that we scored, and I hope we can continue on this basis.'
Grant was asked whether he felt it was a performance that proved the Blues are willing to play under him.
But he deflected that by saying: 'I want the players to want to play for the club - that's the most important thing.
'Managers come and go. The only thing that always remains are the supporters, but their commitment and my commitment is to the club first of all.
'We saw that the players' commitment was at a very high level for this club.
'It's not been an easy time for them after Sunday's result [losing 2-0 at Manchester United] and what happened last week.
'But they showed a very good attitude.'
Hull boss Phil Brown had no complaints with the scoreline, because he appreciated his side were outclassed on the night.
'Grant made seven changes to the team beaten at Old Trafford, yet it was far from a 'weakened' line-up - in particular because there was £60million worth of talent on the bench,' he noted.
'It was a lesson in quality.
'They were clinical in front of goal - and while we had chances to get something on the board, their second goal killed us and was quickly followed by the third.
'Chelsea, with their experience and quality, made the pitch big - and it was always going to be a tough night when it got to 3-0.
'The one thing I have learned from this tonight is that their players trust and believe in one another.'
John Terry insisted Chelsea fully deserved their 4-0 victory over Hull in the Carling Cup third round after they had endured a traumatic week.
He told Sky Sports 2: 'It was a great win and certainly well needed, it is a tough place to come.
'I thought we played really well, we knew the first 15 to 20 minutes it was going to be really difficult and they were going to be in our faces.
'But we deserved it, especially after the last three games.
'The quality came through in the end.'
The England skipper insists spirit is good at Stamford Bridge despite the off-field happenings.
He said: 'We do our best to maintain team spirit in Chelsea. We'll try to keep it going. It has been tough recently but we take a lot of positives from tonight.'