The Portuguese Forward Fires Hat-Trick as Chelsea Deliver Liam Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull

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

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip 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 support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker 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 priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice 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 league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.