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

Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap began 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 avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.