🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind 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 night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to 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 opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked 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 had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several 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 position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.