🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.