🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in 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 times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.