Marcos
Alonso gave a glimpse into Antonio Conte's plan to turn Chelsea back into
Premier League title contenders with a pivotal role in his side's 2-0 win at
Hull on Saturday.
Alonso was favoured over Branislav Ivanovic in a new-look three man
defensive formation which despite a distinctly uneasy start, ultimately
served up the Blues' second clean sheet of the season.
It was the Spaniard's first league start for the club since his deadline day
signing from Fiorentina and a major gamble by Conte after successive
top-flight defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.
Alonso told Chelsea's official website: "It's the first game I've started in
the Premier League for Chelsea, we got three points and a clean sheet so I'm
very happy.
"We've been conceding a lot of goals and against Hull we were concentrated
for 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet so that was good."
Conte may have been questioning his decision in the early stages when the
dreadfully exposed David Luiz gave away a free-kick from which Robert
Snodgrass almost opened the scoring.
His rearguard looked anything but resolute in the opening stages and had
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to thank for another fine save from Ryan Mason
which kept them on level terms at the break.
But in the second half Chelsea were rarely troubled with Willian picking up
a pass from Costa before bending a delicious 61st-minute opener past Hull
keeper David Marshall to give his side the lead.
And just six minutes later the home challenge was effectively over when
Costa himself got on the scoresheet with a similar goal from the left side
of the box.
Conte said: "We have different options in this situation and it think it's
normal that all the players must be involved in the project - the young
players and older players together.
"Chelsea is a great team and I tried to choose the best for the team.
Together we will win and lose, but it is important to work together and to
trust and to follow."
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