The Portuguese Neto Fires Hat-Trick as Chelsea Provide Manager The Boss with Joyous Return to Hull City

Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result made for an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.