🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely 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 Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.