The Portuguese Neto Scores Treble as Chelsea Provide Manager Rosenior with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed 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.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.