Chelsea were the first Premier League side to book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup when they picked up a comprehensive victory over Hull City.
Liam Rosenior was enjoying an emotional evening as he returned to his former employers, and showed them respect with the strong starting side he named.
Pedro Neto was given the nod in the number 10 role, and repaid the faith put in him by the manager with a stunning hat-trick.
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His second goal came directly from a corner, with it looking as if this was a training ground plan based on how Rosenior celebrated the goal.
Hull City v Chelsea - Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Liam Rosenior’s decision to not sub off Liam Delap was the key for Chelsea vs Hull
It was clear that Neto was Man of the Match for the Blues, however one of the strongest performers after 90 minutes turned out to be Liam Delap.
After missing an absolute sitter and having an all-round tough first half, it would have been easy for Rosenior to sub his number nine off, with both Joao Pedro and Shumaira Mheuka waiting in the wings to come on.
However, perseverance in the Englishman paid off for the Blues, with brilliant individual work eventually seeing Delap end the game with three assists.
Given the excellent recent form of Pedro, it has been difficult for the Englishman to force his way into the first team plans of late, and this performance was huge for him in that quest.
Hull City v Chelsea - Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Delap starts to answer his critics
It has not been the ideal start to life for Delap at Chelsea, with Jamie Carragher slamming the decision to join the Blues.
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Even some chiefs at Chelsea have had doubts over the signing, with the striker position always one the club will be looking at in the transfer market.
Three assists is about as good as a night can go for Delap if he isn’t going to find the net, and after his stunning miss in the first half it looked a pipedream to have a game that good.
Rosenior deserves credit for sticking with him, and will now have more than a week to decide on his squad selection before the next game against Burnley.
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