The Portuguese Neto Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Provide Liam Rosenior with Joyous Return to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform 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 good example of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.