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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings 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’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return 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 position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.