The Portuguese Neto Scores Hat-Trick as The Blues Deliver Liam Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players 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 strong position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.