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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.