Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.
"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."
Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This happy association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.
Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory
Three days after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.
The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.
However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.
Delap's Redemption and Influence
Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.
He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, 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, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.
Contest Sealed and Focus Turns
Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.
At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that aim in mind.
"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."
Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.
FA Cup History Look Promising
The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.
