The Portuguese Forward Fires Hat-Trick as Chelsea Deliver Liam Rosenior with Happy Homecoming to Hull City

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, 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 strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.