Pedro Forward Fires Hat-Trick as The Blues Provide Manager The Boss with Joyous Return to Hull

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started 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 clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. 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. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.