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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap 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 clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the first 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 the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.