The Portuguese Forward Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Deliver Manager Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull

Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Good

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.