🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.