The Portuguese Forward Fires Treble as Chelsea Provide Liam The Boss with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens 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 showpiece. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.