The Portuguese Neto Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Provide Manager The Boss with Happy Homecoming to Hull

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key 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 position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post 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 History Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.