Hull City won at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur early in the season, but their third visit to London was a much more testing affair. That, though, was 12 days ago against West Ham United. The match against Chelsea on Saturday could easily have completed a hat-trick of victories in the capital.

Matt Duke, the Hull goalkeeper, agreed that he had been far busier in the 2-0 defeat at Upton Park than at Stamford Bridge. “Which is mad, really,” he said. “You’d think it would be the other way round.” Mad? Not really. Duke was thinking in terms of the league table and the reputation of Chelsea’s players. But Gianfranco Zola, the former Chelsea favourite, has witnessed his rebuilding of the West Ham team begin to pay off over more or less the same period in which the Chelsea supporters have watched their team’s challenge for the title fall away.

The contrast between the limited resources behind Zola and the money that has funded a Chelsea squad who seem to be losing their way under Luiz Felipe Scolari has occurred to a number of people. A banner was displayed on Saturday bearing the words “Scolari out, Zola/Di Matteo Chelsea legends.”

Zola ruled out leaving West Ham for a return to Chelsea in a Sunday newspaper, but that hardly lessens the pressure on Scolari and the alarm bells were ringing in more ways than one on Saturday. As a rogue fire alert all but drowned out his assistant Ray Wilkins’s post-match press conference, it was tempting to believe that Scolari had deliberately set it off with the intention of clearing the press room before the inquisition.

If the 2-0 defeat away to Liverpool had effectively removed Chelsea from the title race, this failure to beat a team who had taken only one point from their previous seven games called into question their ability to finish in the top four. Wilkins asserted that “second, third and fourth places from here on in will change on numerous occasions”, but he did not mention fifth or even sixth. If that seems fanciful, consider that Chelsea have won only four of their past 12 Premier League matches, Arsenal are five points behind and Everton are coming up fast.

It was not a simple question of Hull packing their penalty area for 90 minutes. Geovanni, on his return to the team, showed a control and vision, not to mention a work ethic, that put most of the Chelsea players to shame. The Brazilian played the pass of the match in the 67th minute, but Dean Marney’s shot on the turn went inches wide.

Chelsea, in contrast, laboured to produce a decent final pass and although they remain the league’s leading scorers, it may not be for much longer. In recent home matches against Stoke City and Middlesbrough, they grabbed three points despite indifferent displays and it would have been a gross injustice had the players received win bonuses on Saturday. Their next league match, away to Aston Villa, could be pivotal.

Ricardo Quaresma began promisingly and showed signs that he could be the player to supply much-needed width, but he is not yet up to Premier League speed. He did well to last 60 minutes, so when he was withdrawn, the jeers of “You don’t know what you’re doing” directed at Scolari were harsh. “The away crowd showed again today that if we show endeavour, desire and drive, they get behind us,” Phil Brown, the Hull manager, said. Chelsea, take note.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Hilário 5 — J Bosingwa 5, Alex 5, J Terry 6, A Cole 6 — J O Mikel 4 (sub: J Belletti, 57min, 6) — S Kalou 6, M Ballack 4 (sub: Deco, 73, 4), F Lampard 6, R Quaresma 5 (sub: D Drogba 63, 4) — N Anelka 5. Substitutes not used: R Taylor, B Ivanovic, F Di Santo, M Stoch. Booked: Mikel.

Hull City (4-4-1-1): M Duke 6 — S Ricketts 6, M Turner 7, K Zayatte 7, A Dawson 6 — R Garcia 6, I Ashbee 6, D Marney 6, K Kilbane 6 — Geovanni 7 (sub: R France, 81) — C Fagan 7. Substitutes not used: B Myhill, N Doyle, N Barmby, B Hughes, P Halmosi, A Manucho. Booked: Ashbee, Garcia.