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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight all game, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.