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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult 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 fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of 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 situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.