🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased 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 attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

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

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.