🔗 Share this article

Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the 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 handled the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.