🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "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 excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Good

That made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.