🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.