February 14, (THEWILL) — Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round with a commanding 4-0 victory over Championship side Hull City at The MKM Stadium on Friday evening. Pedro Neto claimed the match ball with a hat-trick that included a goal scored directly from a corner, whilst Estevao also found the net for the Blues.
The visitors created early chances but lacked precision in front of goal. Mamadou Sarr’s long pass released Estevao, who rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips only to fire over the bar with his left foot. Phillips then saw his clearance rebound off Liam Delap, and onto the crossbar, before denying the Chelsea striker on the follow-up despite protests that the ball had crossed the line.
Neto opened the scoring five minutes before the interval, curling brilliantly into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the area after receiving Delap’s pass. The Portuguese winger doubled his tally six minutes after the restart when his corner delivery sailed straight past everyone and into the net, leaving Phillips helpless.
Estevao extended the advantage in the 59th minute with a thunderous finish following more excellent work from Delap. Neto completed his treble after 71 minutes, linking up again with Delap before dispatching a right-footed shot beyond Phillips to seal the result. The match marked a successful return to Hull for manager Liam Rosenior, who had been dismissed by the club in May 2024.
Hull came close to a late consolation when Lewis Koumas hit the post, but Chelsea remained in control throughout. Andrey Santos had earlier tested Phillips with a header shortly after half-time, which the Hull goalkeeper tipped over the bar.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
