🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

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

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline 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 first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good 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 final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.