Pedro Forward Fires Treble as The Blues Provide Manager The Boss with Happy Homecoming to Hull

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.