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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice players with that goal 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. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.