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

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with 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 Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.