Pedro Neto Fires Treble as The Blues Deliver Liam The Boss with Happy Return to Hull

Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper 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 kick which came off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, 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 miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.