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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

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

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.