By David Lee Wheatley
Jose Mourinho returned to a very warm welcome at Stamford Bridge shortly before his Chelsea side kicked-off their new campaign against newly-promoted Hull City.
The beloved Portuguese tactician admitted to an emotional feeling when thinking of taking his seat in the arena where his greatest supporters would be housed in their thousands. As the former Real Madrid man emerged, he blew kisses to his adoring fans while looking contented to be back. Quickly, he focused on the pitch where the match was about to unfold before his eyes.
Chelsea were absolutely superb from the off, winning an early penalty as they attempted to begin the second Mourinho reign in style.
Hull's new signing in goal Alan McGregor committed the foul, handing the opportunity to Frank Lampard to take the kick from 12 yards. The usually reliable England midfielder stepped up and struck the ball low to the keeper's right, but the Scot went the right way and made the save to redeem himself.
However, it was a Blues onslaught from then on as the fans repeatedly chanted the name of their hero Mourinho in what can only be described as a party atmosphere to welcome Jose back 'home'.
Oscar duly put the west Londoners ahead shortly after the penalty miss when slotting the ball home neatly from just inside the box.
At that point, the Brazilian was joined by fellow young stars De Bruyne and Hazard in controlling matters in the final third. Torres looked ineffectual and Juan Mata was missing due to a lack of fitness, but it didn't seem to matter with those three performing in sublime fashion.
Belgian De Bruyne, fresh from a season-long loan at Werder Bremen last term, was especially dangerous with some fine incisive passing and a willingness to have a crack at goal from anywhere.
Torres conned the referee into giving a free-kick around 30 yards from goal when there was no contact whatsoever; the Spaniard taking flight and flipping sideways mid-air to make sure of the foul award.
Hull were struggling to keep up with an awesome performance full of pressing and purpose from the hosts, but it got significantly worse for Steve Bruce's side when Lampard sent a slightly swerving effort towards the top right-hand corner following Torres' theatrics. The wall parted and goalie McGregor laboured to his left before stretching out an arm in vain. The Scot got his fingertips to the shot, but couldn't keep it out.
As the half drew to a close, Hull got some sustained possession for the first time in the match. Unfortunately for the travelling fans, their team weren't capable of unlocking the Chelsea defence.
It seemed Mourinho's charges took a conscious decision to take their foot off the gas in the second period, while Hull looked a tad more composed when on the ball than they'd done previously.
A cross from the right found the onrushing Curtis Davies, who headed firmly towards goal only to find the hands of Petr Cech for Hull City's best chance.
Meanwhile, Chelsea sailed through the half largely untroubled and happy to simply hold their position without becoming too adventurous. The job was done by that amazing showing of the opening 45 minutes and Chelsea knew it.
Overall, the feeling remained that should Hull score, Chelsea could step up another gear to put the game beyond the reach of their opponents whenever they felt it necessary.
Blues were supreme initially before slacking off a little, but if Mourinho gets that type of response every week, it'll certainly take a special team to stop them from regaining the Premier League title from reigning champions Manchester United.
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