Pedro Neto Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Provide Liam Rosenior with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved 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 next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.