The Portuguese Forward Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Provide Liam Rosenior with Happy Homecoming to Hull City

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

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

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned 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 games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.