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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, 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 take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

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

There was great effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.