Chelsea 'have to do better' if they want to fight for trophies, says Cesar Azpilicueta after nervy Hull win

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George Flood25 January 2020

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta has demanded improvement from Chelsea after their latest display of profligacy almost proved costly in the FA Cup clash against Hull City.

Frank Lampard's side secured their place in the draw for the last 16 with a narrow 2-1 victory against Championship opposition at the KCOM Stadium, but once again they made hard work of things.

Chelsea scored with their first attack of the evening courtesy of Michy Batshuayi's deflected strike, yet could not add to their lead before the interval despite dominating possession and creating chances.

Hull were much improved after the break, and while former Tigers loanee Fikayo Tomori looked to have secured the visitors' progress with a back-post header shortly after the hour mark, wasteful Chelsea were unable to avoid a nervy finish as Kamil Grosicki's free-kick deflected in off Mateo Kovacic.

Failing to kill off games and conceding late goals has become a familiar theme for Chelsea this season and Azpilicueta recognises these are issues they must correct if they want to compete for regular silverware in future.

"With the chances we've had, we cannot concede in these circumstances and we have to control better," he told BT Sport.

"We want to go far but we could have handled better - it's not the first time we've not managed the game well.

"We had clear chances to score more and then we stopped playing our game and we got punished.

"If we want to fight for trophies we have to do better."

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