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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This happy association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing 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 very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.