🔗 Share this article Pedro Neto Scores Treble as The Blues Provide Liam Rosenior with Joyous Homecoming to Hull Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for Chelsea. "We might 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 nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was excellent." The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup. Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease. The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period. But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul. The Forward's Response and Impact Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club. He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger. The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 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 two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs. Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper. By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key 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 very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play." Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately. Cup History Are Promising That made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.