🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice 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 very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.