🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock 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 four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental 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. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the crucial ball for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

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

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.