The Portuguese Neto Fires Treble as Chelsea Deliver Liam Rosenior with Happy Homecoming to Hull

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good 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 great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim 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," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.