The Portuguese Forward Fires Treble as Chelsea Deliver Manager The Boss with Joyous Return to Hull City

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded 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 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly slot past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that aim 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," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.