Chelsea still adjusting to Xabi Alonso’s style as balance between attack and defence remains a work in progress

Chelsea (1) 2 v Hull City (2) 2

Rogers 7

Belloumi 28

Belloumi 34

João Pedro 66

By Kaz Mochlinski at Stamford Bridge

Premier League

Matchweek 4

Chelsea’s latest reset with the appointment of Xabi Alonso as manager is not looking like it will conjure a new era of instant success on the evidence of Hull City’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Just as in their defeat at Arsenal six days beforehand, Chelsea’s attack was unable to compensate for substantial shortcomings in defence, with goals from Morgan Rogers and João Pedro being matched by two from Mohamed Belloumi.

The last time that Chelsea avoided conceding a goal in the Premier League was back in January, and a 20th consecutive league game without a clean sheet extended the club’s worst such run since 1961.

Hull City’s very engaging head coach, Sergej Jakirović, nominated Emi Martínez as the man-of-the-match for some significant saves in the second half, but there were also misses and mistakes from Chelsea’s new number one.

In front of Martínez, the Blues’ back line remains prone to moments of panic exacerbated by lapses of concentration, irrespective of whether it is set up in a three or a four or a five, as was the case at different times against Hull City.

Alonso again started in a basic 3-4-3 formation before switching to a 4-2-3-1 system at half-time, exactly as had happened away to Arsenal. And Chelsea then finished the afternoon chasing a winner with a 4-1-3-2 structure.

“It was too soft” acknowledged Alonso about the home side’s defending, as well as admitting that “We got what we deserved.” However, he has not yet lost his sense of humour, joking once more about his desire for “boring” football.

“It’s all maybe entertaining, but I hope that one day you say it was a boring game and we win and we don’t give these entertaining moments. But, for sure, it kind of repeats some patterns that we are making. It will take time.”

And he accepted: “Overall, I think that we are attacking better than defending, in every part. We know that it’s a big topic and a big theme for us. For sure it’s just four games, but the dynamic in terms of conceding, I don’t like it, and we need to do much better.”

Both Alonso and Jakirović believed that the goals which their respective teams let in were entirely preventable, with the stalemate being Chelsea’s fifth failure in a row to win home league matches against newly-promoted sides - for the first time since 1948.

It was never going to be solely about the Premier League’s best attack against the leading defence, although only Brighton & Hove Albion had scored as many goals as Chelsea’s eight, while Hull City’s goalkeeper had so far not been beaten.

The visitors were actually above the Blues in the table before kick-off, and their determination to maintain that advantage was not unduly dented by the big early setback of conceding their first league goal of the season.

After Chelsea became the first team in Premier League history to score in the opening four minutes of each of their initial three games, this time they disappointingly saw the sequence stop, as they had to wait more than six minutes to take the lead.

Rogers got his first goal at Stamford Bridge for his new club with a low left-footed shot inside the near post, but Hull City were crucially let back into the contest midway through the first half when the hosts collectively seemed to switch off.

The equaliser came immediately following a lengthy break in play for the Tigers’ keeper, Konstantinos Tzolakis, to receive treatment. Yet this does not excuse Jorrel Hato allowing a left-wing cross to bounce over him, enabling Belloumi to finish.

Having scored with their first attempt on target, Hull City in the space of six minutes went ahead through two goals from their only two such shots of the first half. On this occasion, it was Martínez who contributed by coming for a corner that eluded him.

Semi Ajayi’s header hit the crossbar and Belloumi was set up from the rebound. The Algerian winger’s effort was deflected by Levi Colwill - in contrasting fortunes for two footballers who have both recovered from serious knee ligament injuries.

Never previously scoring in the top flight is not currently a contra-indication to doing so when playing Chelsea, and two low, left-footed, first-time strikes either side of the half-hour mark provided Belloumi with his first two Premier League goals.

“We are top of the league! We are top of the league!” sang the joyous Hull City supporters. They led their hosts at half-time, and, for just over 30 surreal minutes of the match, they were indeed in first place in the live table.

Chelsea fans could easily recall Sunderland’s visit last autumn, when a 1-0 lead was similarly spectacularly squandered to lose 1-2 against opponents who had just come up from the second tier. They were relieved for it not to recur now.

Rogers has registered three goals in four Premier League games, and João Pedro kept exact pace with his teammate by completing a quartet of left-foot strikes for 2-2, in the second half sweetly sending the ball high into the roof of the net first-time.

Cole Palmer cleverly created the chance down the left wing, having also begun the move for Chelsea’s first goal. Later, he played a perfect pass from the right across for Rogers clear in the penalty box, but infuriatingly he shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Tzolakis again stood up to save at his near post when Estêvão Willian got into space after coming on as a substitute, but he eventually had to shoot from a tight angle and with his right foot. At the other end, Chelsea were equally grateful to Martínez.

Nevertheless, Hull City’s scoring opportunities will be of great concern at the Bridge, as they came close to winning for the first time ever at the famous old ground, trying to profit from Chelsea overcommitting forward in chasing a deciding goal.

Alonso has named four different defensive combinations for his four league matches (and six out of six in all competitions), before then making further alterations during the 90 minutes as he seeks to confirm his best XI. It continues to be elusive for now.

Ultimately, at least the Premier League award winners for August avoided the common curse of many past recipients, with the player of the month, João Pedro, still scoring and the manager of the month, Jakirović, remaining unbeaten.

Chelsea XI: Martínez, Fofana, Colwill, Hato, Neto, James, Lavia, Gusto, Palmer, Rogers, João Pedro

Subs: Penders, Acheampong, Chavarria, Lacroix, Barco, Quenda, Estevao, Gittens, Welbeck

Hull City XI: Tzolakis, Coyle, Ajayi, Egan, Mendy, Giles, Balloumi, Slater, Crooks, Stroud, McBurnie

Subs: Phillips, Target, Norton-Cuffy, Herrington, Gourna-Douath, Iroegbunam, Thomas, Vaz, Cho