Pedro Forward Scores Hat-Trick as Chelsea Provide Liam Rosenior with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients 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 tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans 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 charge of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as Delap once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion 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 next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.