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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals 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 league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.