26/09/2007  Hull 0 Chelsea 4
 
New Chelsea coach Avram Grant can afford himself a welcome sigh of relief after seeing his Blues ease into the last 16 of the Carling Cup.

Goals from 18-year-old Scott Sinclair, Steve Sidwell and two for Salomon Kalou ensure there will be no uncomfortable inquest for Grant.

His tenure is already under close scrutiny due to him lacking the relevant coaching badges required to manage in the Barclays Premier League.

The likes of Marco van Basten and Jurgen Klinsmann have been linked with the role - speculation which was strongly refuted by Chelsea.

But at least Grant has a win under his belt - even if only against Coca-Cola Championship side Hull - which offers him a degree of breathing space.

Grant can initially thank Sinclair, whose delightful opener came eight minutes before the break at a time when Hull were growing in confidence.

This third-round tie was settled by two goals in the space of seven minutes at the start of the second half, with a Kalou header followed by a searing drive from Sidwell before the former doubled his tally late on.

But even taking into account this was a supposedly 'weakened' Chelsea side, the divide in class was not apparent until the goals started to go in.

The appointment of the experienced, but unqualified Grant has done little to ease the anxiety of Blues fans fearful of the direction their club is now heading.

What cannot be denied is the quality of players Grant still has at his disposal, and that was case in point for this tie.

Grant made seven changes to the team beaten by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, with £21million Shaun Wright-Phillips, £8million Kalou, Claudio Pizarro and Carlo Cudicini named in the line-up.

On the bench at Grant's disposal was a further £60million worth of talent in Andriy Shevchenko, Claude Makelele, Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge.

The question still remains as to how such players will take to Grant's leadership, and whether they will respond to his methods as Abramovich seeks the entertaining football he has spent millions in the hope of watching.

The KC Stadium was clearly no place for silky skills and finesse as Hull are an earthy side, even if manager Phil Brown has been able to attract the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen of late.

Chelsea certainly had to dig in on occasions after the Tigers had weathered an opening four-minute storm in which the visitors had forced five corners.

Notably, goalkeeper Bo Myhill showed agility and fine reflexes in turning over the bar a drive from Sidwell and then a shot from Kalou around the post.

Hull proceeded to have their moments as they soon countered, with Okocha seeing a 20-yard effort deflected wide and Stephen McPhee thwarted by Juliano Belletti just as he was primed to shoot.

After Myhill had smothered another low drive from Kalou in the 19th minute and the defence had repelled a further three corners in quick succession before the 25-minute mark, Hull then began to seriously look capable of an upset.

But Chelsea upped a gear and after Myhill had saved from Wright-Phillips, the England winger then teed up Sinclair for his first for the club on his fifth appearance.

McPhee almost levelled before the break, but then after it Kalou headed home his first of the season in the 48th minute followed four minutes later by Sidwell's maiden goal since his summer move from Reading.

Credit to the Tigers as they refused to roll over and came close with sub Richard Garcia forcing a save from Cudicini, Ian Ashbee heading narrowly over the woodwork and Okocha shaving the bar with a rising free-kick.

In the end, it was Chelsea who added an exclamation point to the scoreline with Kalou sweeping home a low ball from substitute Joe Cole.