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Hull City 0-4 Chelsea: Hat-trick hero Neto stars in FA Cup rout

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Pedro Neto scored a hat-trick which included a goal straight from a corner as Chelsea cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Championship side Hull City.

Estevao was also on target for the Blues at The MKM Stadium on Friday as Liam Rosenior enjoyed a winning return to the club that sacked him back in May 2024. 

Chelsea enjoyed a fast start and should have led when Mamadou Sarr's long ball picked out Estevao, but after rounding Dillon Phillips, he fired over the net on his left foot. 

Phillips then saw his attempted clearance cannon off Liam Delap and onto the crossbar, but the Hull City goalkeeper did well to deny the Chelsea number nine, who thought the ball had crossed the line, on the rebound. 

But the visitors took the lead five minutes before the break through Neto, who brilliantly picked out the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box after being teed up by Delap. 

Chelsea started the second half quickly as Andrey Santos' header was tipped over by Phillips, and from the resulting corner, Neto's teasing delivery sailed all the way in to put the Blues two goals to the good in the 51st minute. 

Estevao then put the result beyond doubt eight minutes later with a thumping finish after more good work from Delap, but there was still time for Neto to clinch his hat-trick. 

Neto combined once again with Delap before sending a right-footed shot beyond the grasp of Phillips to conclude the scoring with 71 minutes on the clock, though Lewis Koumas came close to scoring a consolation late on for Hull, but saw his attempt hit the post. 

Data Debrief: Nothing but Neto

Despite enduring a goal drought in the Premier League, Neto has been in fine form in the cup competitions, particularly the FA Cup, with his treble taking him to four goals in his two appearances this season. 

And he did so in spectacular fashion, netting his first senior career hat-trick, while it was the first by a Chelsea player in an FA Cup match since Tammy Abraham against Luton Town back in January 2021. 

But Estevao also had his say. He now has seven goals in all competitions for Chelsea this season – the most by a teenager for the club in a season in the Premier League era. In addition, only Lamine Yamal (15) has more goals as an 18-year-old this term for a top five European team than the Brazilian. 

The Blues have now won the joint most games of any side in Europe's top-five leagues in all competitions (eight in 11 games) since Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca, and his team were worthy of their win here, after registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.68 from 13 shots to Hull's 0.87 from 10 attempts.