Pedro Forward Scores Treble as The Blues Deliver Liam The Boss with Happy Return to Hull City

Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.