Phil Neville believes Hull City successfully pinpointed a flaw in Chelsea's setup, regularly exploiting space on the home side's right flank. The match at Stamford Bridge ended 2-2, with the visitors having chances to secure victory.
Chelsea took the lead early with a goal from Morgan Rogers, but Mohamed Bellumi struck back with a double before half-time. After the break, Joao Pedro equalised for the hosts.
Neville commented:
Before the match, we thought Hull City would simply sit back as a unit, but that wasn’t the case.
I think they identified gaps in Chelsea's defensive system. There was plenty of free space on the right flank behind Neto.
They created opportunities, pressed high, and it was difficult to break them down. In my view, Hull City executed a superb tactical performance.
What particularly impressed Neville was how the visitors adapted their off-the-ball play and utilised the gaps in Javi Alonso's defence:
Sometimes they marked their opponents closely, other times they shifted to a mid-block. Their defenders were always close together.
But what impressed me most was their attacking play. Tactically, they found and exploited the free spaces very well. I think Hull City deserved even more than just one point.
Following this match, Chelsea extended their streak of games without a clean sheet in the Premier League to 20, marking the club's worst run in 65 years.
