The Portuguese Forward Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Deliver Manager Rosenior with Happy Return to Hull City

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think 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 example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.