Pedro Forward Scores Hat-Trick as The Blues Provide Liam Rosenior with Happy Return to Hull

Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.