🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.