🔗 Share this article

Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.