Chelsea made light work of Championship promotion hopefuls Hull City last night in the FA Cup, advancing to the fifth round with a straightforward 4-0 victory. Pedro Neto’s hat-trick keyed the performance, but it was a solid effort from just about all involved, despite the occasional blizzard blowing through.
The outcome was only ever in doubt because for much of the first half, we seemed to be inventing new ways of missing open goals. Estêvão and Liam Delap followed Cole Palmer’s example from the end of the previous game, before Neto finally showed us how to put one in the back of the net. A quick second after the restart settled the outcome, and we’d add a couple more later on to put the bow on top.
Those early misses could’ve easily come back to haunt us of course, but we kept our focus, kept at it, and eventually got our rewards. Head coach Liam Rosenior was pleased by not only the outcome but the team’s approach and execution throughout.
“The overall positive thing was the application of the team […] our pressing, our intensity, our work rate. […] It was a really professional performance tonight against a very good team who are pushing for the Premier League. This is not an easy game.
“Some of our football was everything I want to see, but before that, the values of what the team stood for tonight made me a very happy coach. [It was] a really strong team performance, and from 1-15, I felt it was a really, really strong performance tonight.”
-Liam Rosenior; source: Football.London
Obviously, Chelsea are and should be expected to win these types of games, but you don’t win just by going through the motions. You not only have to be there, but you have to show up.
Now we have a week to rest, recover, and get ready for the next stretch of important games.