Pedro Forward Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Deliver Manager Rosenior with Joyous Return to Hull

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour 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 aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.