🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off 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 challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice 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 very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next 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 struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.