🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control 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 Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking 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 moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.