🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed great fight all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested several first-choice 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 next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.