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Pedro Neto netted his first hat-trick for Chelsea in their victory over Hull City on Friday evening but there was a bit of confusion around one of the forward's goals
Pedro Neto ended up taking the match ball home after Chelsea's 4-0 win over Hull City but at one point, the Blues attacker was not sure he was allowed to.
The 25-year-old was in sparkling form for Chelsea as they cruised to a comfortable victory in Yorkshire to progress into the fifth round of this season's FA Cup. Neto opened the scoring on 40 minutes with a wonderful strike from around 25 yards out and added his second early on in the second half, though there was initial confusion over whether it was his goal.
Neto's in-swinging corner managed to beat everyone, including the Hull goalkeeper, to double the away side's lead. It was extremely close to the top of Jorrel Hato's head and it took a few replays to confirm it was indeed Neto's goal.
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"To be honest, on the second goal, I was in doubt if it was mine or not," said Neto. "At the end of the game, I went to the referee and asked whether it was a hat-trick or not. Did I have the right to the ball? He said, 'Yeah, yeah, you have the right!'
"Jorrel said to me, 'It's your goal, I didn't touch the ball'. Most of all, I'm happy that we went through. We did an unbelievable performance against a tough team away and I think it's a well deserved win."
There was no doubt over Neto's third goal of the night after the Portugal international played a clever one-two with Liam Delap before slotting the ball into the bottom corner. After the game, Liam Rosenior described Neto as "world-class" and was oblivious to some of the hate the former Wolves attacker has received online in recent weeks.
Rosenior said: "No, I'm not aware of it. I don't know why that would be the case because Pedro Neto brings us so many different qualities that you need.
"For me, he's a world-class player. He's a world-class winger and what I love about him, as talented as he is and as gifted as he is, which he showed today, what he sacrifices for the team at times is top. He's going to be really, really important for us for where I think we can get to and what we can achieve for the rest of the season."
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