The Portuguese Neto Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Deliver Manager The Boss with Happy Return to Hull

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull 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 positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. This happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive ball 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 priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.