The Portuguese Neto Scores Treble as Chelsea Deliver Liam The Boss with Joyous Homecoming to Hull

Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.