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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.