The Portuguese Forward Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Deliver Manager The Boss with Happy Homecoming to Hull

Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring 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 the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim 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 league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.