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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper 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 crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, 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 immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.