The Portuguese Forward Fires Treble as Chelsea Deliver Manager The Boss with Joyous Homecoming to Hull City

Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

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

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players 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 position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.