🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals 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 Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.