🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed 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 empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, 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 left out a number of 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 league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.