🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.