Rise of Hazard has Jose raving

Hull 0 Chelsea 2

The Blues have won five matches in a row, are unbeaten in nine, and have kept three consecutive clean sheets.

They ground Hull City into submission with a performance straight out of one of the Portuguese manager’s dossiers.

Eden Hazard, their leading goalscorer, has come to embody what Mourinho craves from his team — supremely talented and now ruthlessly efficient.

Hazard made the difference at the KC Stadium. Just as Hull might have thought they had coped with everything the visitors could throw at them, the Belgian broke the deadlock with a moment of brilliance in the 56th minute.

After that, the result never looked in doubt and Fernando Torres’s strike three minutes from time sealed the victory.

Hazard, 23, has scored 11 goals this season and, suddenly, the €38.5m Chelsea forked out to buy him from Lille looks like a nice piece of business.

Mourinho said: “He is a kid and I’ll call him a kid, no problem, but I think he is going from a talented player to a really top player.

“To be a talented player is not to be a top player and I think he is going in that direction.

“He is an easy boy to coach. He is a good boy but just needed to improve and understand that if he wants to be really big he needed to work in a different way.

“He needed to feel his profession in a different way. It is the natural evolution of things. Physically, he will get stronger. His appetite to score goals has to improve, too.

“Also, his responsibility to cope with the tackles he is getting. With the fantastic player that he is, that is also something he will learn to cope with.”

Hazard’s strike at Hull came after Steve Bruce’s side, promoted from the Championship last season, had given as good as they had got in the early exchanges.

Midfielder Jake Livermore forced Petr Cech into a full-length save with a low shot from 20 yards and Yannick Sagbo, the Ivory Coast striker, flashed a first-time effort wide when Livermore charged down John Terry’s hesitant clearance. Hull keeper Allan McGregor saved brilliantly from Oscar after Hazard’s cutback as Chelsea increased the pressure.

Hull finally buckled 11 minutes after the break.

David Luiz’s simple pass into Ashley Cole was flicked into Hazard’s path on the edge of the box and the Chelsea trickster did the rest. He swiftly moved into a shooting position on the edge of the box and drilled his effort low beyond McGregor.

After that, Chelsea throttled the life out of the game and Torres made it 2-0, roaring past Alex Bruce and smashing his shot beyond McGregor at the near post to mark the Spaniard’s 200th Premier League appearance.

The form of Hazard, playing alongside Brazilians Oscar and Willian behind Torres, suggests Juan Mata and Andre Schurrle will have to wait for a chances.

World Cup and European Championship winner Mata is no longer a first choice and German starlet Schurrle has struggled to make an impact since signing from Bayer Leverkusen for €21.6m in the summer.

But Mourinho said: “It is just a moment, maybe in February maybe some are not in the best form and Juan is coming at the top of his game. Will Juan be here after the transfer window? Of course.”

What Hull manager Steve Bruce would give to have such a problem. Robbie Brady, who has been injured since November, is the Tigers’ top scorer with four goals.

Bruce said: “Everything is a gamble but what I’ve always said is that we never want to put the club in a financial mess. With the size of the money invested in the Premier League these days, the chairman [Assem Allam] has put his money where is mouth is and one thing he won’t do is put the club in distress.”

HULL CITY (3-5-2): McGregor 7; Chester 6 (Fryatt 77), Bruce 5, Davies 7; Elmohamady 6, Livermore 5, Huddlestone 6, Meyler 6 (Koren 67, 6), Figueroa 6; Boyd 6 (Quinn 83); Sagbo 6.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Cech 6; Azpilicueta 6, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Cole 6; Ramires 7 (Essien 89), Luiz 7; Willian 7 (Schurrle 84), Oscar 7 (Mikel 69, 6), Hazard 8; Torres 7.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg 8.