The Portuguese Forward Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Provide Liam The Boss with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

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

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear 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 first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended 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 striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice 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," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.