Chelsea forward Pedro Neto failed to justify his bumper new contract after delivering a dreadful performance in the 2-2 draw against Hull City on Saturday.
The Blues were hoping to build on their thrilling 6-3 victory over Leeds United in the League Cup and avoid back-to-back Premier League defeats after losing to Arsenal.
They continued their trend of scoring early goals as Morgan Rogers rifled then into the lead inside six minutes, but the Blues failed to capitalise on their blistering start.
Xabi Alonso’s side took their foot off the gas and were punished for it as Hull levelled through a well-taken volley from Mohamed Belloumi in the 28th minute.
Chelsea’s punishment didn’t end there as the Tigers completed their first-half comeback just six minutes later with Belloumi’s deflected effort leaving Emiliano Martinez wrong-footed.
Their fierce attack came to the rescue in the second half as Cole Palmer set up Joao Pedro to equalise just after the hour mark.
It was anyone’s game from that point, but neither side was clinical enough to convert their chances and settled for a share of the spoils.
It’s still early days, but Chelsea’s hopes of mounting a title challenge are slipping as they now sit five points off the reigning champions.
Pedro Neto’s role in Chelsea draw
Neto pledged his future to Chelsea before the game against Hull, but that wasn’t enough motivation for the 26-year-old to make a difference.
The Portuguese forward has had a decent start to the season. He has started all four of Chelsea’s Premier League games and scored in the 4-3 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
However, his performance against Hull could be an indictment of Chelsea’s haste to tie him down to a new contract and they may regret that decision.
Neto completed just three out of nine crosses, won two out of seven duels, was successful in one out of three dribbles, and lost possession 17 times before he was taken off in the 86th minute.
He hardly contributed to Chelsea’s efforts to beat the league’s early surprise package and will need to pick up the slack when they visit Brentford before the international break.
