The Portuguese Neto Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Deliver Liam Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested several key individuals 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 Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.