Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.
"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."
Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.
Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win
Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.
The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.
However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.
Delap's Response and Influence
Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.
He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.
Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.
Tie Sealed and Focus Turns
Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.
By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.
"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."
Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.
FA Cup History Are Good
That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.
