With sleet, snow, swirling wind from the banks of the Humber and most importantly, a Hull City side pushing hard for promotion to the Premier League this season, it was hard not to believe pre-match that this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.
Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given how some of his family hail from Hull and he had an enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers: well, until he was unceremoniously sacked nearly two years ago, that is. But his happy association with Hull continued with a magnificent display from his Chelsea side, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.
There was much to admire about this performance. Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead against Leeds, it felt as though there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too given the atmosphere pre-match – but Chelsea navigated the task perfectly.
Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup: with one in particular taking centre stage. The tie could and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.
Quick Guide
Parkinson savours another Wrexham milestone
Show
Phil Parkinson wanted to savour the moment after guiding Wrexham into the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in 29 years.
John Windass scored the winner as they edged a tight contest against their Championship promotion rivals Ipswich 1-0 at the Racecourse Ground.
It was another notable victory for the ambitious Welsh side as their rise under the ownership of the Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continues.
Parkinson said: “We spoke before the game about our chance to create a bit of history. We’ve done it and I’m so pleased because it was always going to be a tough game against a very good side.
“Every season in football is special and you’ve got to savour it. This season, with the challenge of being in the Championship and now an FA Cup run, we want to enjoy it, and tonight we certainly did.” PA Media
But fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. The Portuguese broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings and by full time, Rosenior’s men had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.
That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work to do in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.
“We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance,” he said. “This club [Hull] means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb.”
Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over, before Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.
He blocked a Phillips clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised Hull’s defenders had responded to clear the danger.
Delap had his head in his hands after that horror moment but he was hugely influential from there on out, with three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box and give the visitors a deserved lead. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto’s corner went directly in and through Phillips’s legs.
By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since been forgotten. They were firmly in the contest in the early exchanges but it was difficult to argue with the final outcome, and their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players here with that goal in mind.
“I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship,” he said post-match. “Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play.”
Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net, before Neto completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips and put the seal on a fine night’s work for him and his teammates.
There was plenty of endeavour to the end from Hull, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.
