🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed great fight all game, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players with that aim 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 Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’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 last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.