Pedro Forward Fires Treble as Chelsea Provide Liam Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull City

Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over 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 miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.