Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored two excellent goals as Chelsea won 2-0 at Hull City on Saturday to climb to the top of the Premier League table.

Hazard, who turned 23 on Tuesday, broke the deadlock early in the second period at the KC Stadium before Torres marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a late goal.

Victory moved Jose Mourinho's side into first place above former leaders Arsenal, who visit Aston Villa on Monday, and set them up nicely for next weekend's home game with Manchester United.

Hull had beaten Fulham 6-0 in their previous home game and they had the best of the early skirmishes, with Jake Livermore testing Petr Cech from long range and Yannick Sagbo shooting wide after John Terry lost the ball.

Chelsea began to assert control, however, and Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor had to produce a razor-sharp reflex save to deny Oscar before tipping a plunging David Luiz free-kick over the crossbar.

McGregor had to repel another free-kick from Luiz early in the second period before Hazard made the breakthrough in the 56th minute with a characteristic individual goal.

The Belgian forward collected a flick from Ashley Cole just outside the Hull area and shifted the ball away from a couple of defenders before drilling a low shot into the bottom-right corner with his right foot.

Torres applied the finishing touch in the 87th minute, gathering a pass just inside the Hull half and wriggling past Alex Bruce before slamming a low shot inside the left-hand post.

Later on Saturday, Manchester United will bid to avoid slumping to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time since 1961 when they host Swansea City, who knocked them out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford last weekend.

Elsewhere, new Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes charge of his first league game against second-bottom West Ham United, who were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City in the League Cup in mid-week.

Everton can move into the top four if they win at home to Norwich City, while Tottenham Hotspur will also have eyes on the Champions League places when they welcome Crystal Palace to White Hart Lane.