Second-half goals from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres were enough for Chelsea to take three points against Hull City as their challenge for the Premier League title gathers pace.
In a tight game early on, Chelsea looked to probe in attack but struggled to produce clear chances that troubled Hull.
The hosts came close to taking the lead early on when low drives from Ahmed Elmohamady and Jake Livermore produced strong saves from Petr Cech.
Chelsea, who won the return fixture 2-0 back in August, continued to be stifled by Steve Bruce's side in the first half and almost fell behind when John Terry unusually gave away possession inside his own penalty area, allowing Yannick Sagbo to fire an effort across Cech's goal, drifting narrowly past the post.
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However, Jose Mourinho's side continued to press and had their best chance of the first half when Hazard found Oscar in space, but Allan McGregor was on hand to keep out the Brazilian attacker.
With the interval approaching, David Luiz came close to forging a lead when his fierce free kick had to be turned over by the Scottish keeper.
Chelsea started the brighter after the break and took the lead on 56 minutes when Hazard managed to beat two defenders before unleashing an unstoppable low shot.
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The Blues looked more assured in attack and continued to dominate proceedings despite the resilience of Hull City.
Chelsea made sure of the three points when Fernando Torres, with arguably his first clear chance of the game, ran at the Hull defence before hitting his shot across McGregor.
The result means that Chelsea go a point ahead of Arsenal, who travel to Aston Villa on Monday night.
Chris O'Keefe
