After Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Hull City, securing their place in the FA Cup fifth round, Pedro Neto praised the team's fighting spirit. He also jokingly suggested that the team might throw a celebration party after he scored his first senior hat-trick.  

Near the end of the first half, the Portuguese winger decisively fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area to open the scoring for his team. At the start of the second half, he extended the lead again from a corner kick, the ball sailing over the defense and into the net. Shortly after, Esteban Willian received a pass back from Liam Delap and unleashed a brilliant shot to score the third goal. Then, Pedro Neto calmly slotted the ball into the far corner to complete his hat-trick.  

After the match, Pedro Neto said: "I am really happy. I think the team showed a very good spirit. We came to a tough away game and finally won 4-0. This competition is very competitive, so we are very happy to advance to the next round."  

"To be honest, I wasn't even sure if the second goal was credited to me. After the game, I went to ask the referee if it counted as a hat-trick and if I could take the match ball with me. He replied, 'Yes, you certainly have that right.'"  

"But most importantly, we successfully advanced, which makes me very happy. We played well against a strong team away from home. I think it was a well-deserved victory."  

The second goal of the night was initially credited to Jorel Hatto, but slow-motion replays showed that the Dutch defender did not touch Pedro Neto's inward-curving corner kick. The ball went between Hull City goalkeeper Dylan Phillips' legs and rolled into the net. Thanks to his Chelsea teammates' candid confirmation, Pedro Neto no longer had to question who scored the goal.  

Pedro Neto explained: "Jorel Jato told me, 'That's your goal, I didn't even touch the ball.' I didn't celebrate much at the time because I didn't notice and the scene was a bit chaotic. But in the end I was really happy. I'm happy to have scored three goals, but the most important thing is that the team has successfully advanced."  

This was the 25-year-old's first career hat-trick. While he was satisfied with Chelsea's overall performance at Humberside, he said continued improvement in the details was needed to ensure the team progressed as a whole.  

Pedro Neto continued, "This is my first career hat-trick, so we'll celebrate tonight . It means a lot to me, and I'll continue to work hard to bring joy to the fans and my teammates, and strive to score more goals like this. I'm really very happy."  

“We must continue to win games, but the first thing we need to do is keep improving. I think there are some details that can help us go further, so we are working on improving those.”  

Image source: Internet/Chelsea official website