Chelsea progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over Hull City at MKM Stadium on Friday night.
Pedro Neto was presented with the game’s first chance in the fifth minute, but his effort from distance flew wide over the bar.
Moments later, Moises Caicedo played Alejandro Garnacho through on goal with a brilliant pass whose shot from close range was denied by Dillon Phillips, and Neto fumbled the rebound.
Estevao Willian squandered a glorious opportunity to put Chelsea ahead in the 17th minute; after getting onto Mamadou Sarr’s pass over the top, the Brazilian rounded Phillips but couldn’t hit the target.
At the other end, Ryan Giles fired in a cross for Cathal McCarthy to meet, but his header flew wide of Robert Sanchez’s post.
In the 21st minute, Liam Delap almost gave the Blues the lead after Phillips attempted clearance came off the striker but ricocheted and struck the crossbar and the Englishman couldn’t convert the follow-up.
Neto broke the deadlock in the 40th minute after he received a short pass from Delap, and the Portuguese international found the bottom corner with a brilliant finish.
Five minutes after the restart, Santos almost doubled the visitors’ lead after he met Neto’s cross with a powerful header, but Phillips was at full stretch to deny the Brazilian.
However, a minute later, Neto doubled his tally and Chelsea’s advantage from the resulting corner with an olimpico as his corner evaded everyone and went in through the legs of Phillips.
Minutes later, Garnacho tried his luck from the edge of the area with a low shot, but his effort was comfortably collected by Phillips.
In the 59th minute, Estevao got Chelsea’s third after Delap wriggled his way into the area to set up the teenager, who tapped home with a simple finish.
Moments later, Neto almost scored a carbon copy of his second goal as his inswinging corner almost crept in, but Phillips denied him a third.
Neto completed his first senior hat-trick in the 71st minute after he teed up with Delap at the edge of the area, and he drilled in a low shot into the bottom corner.
Deep into stoppage time, Koumas almost gave the host a consolation goal, but his effort was parried away onto the post by Sanchez to preserve Chelsea’s clean sheet.