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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.