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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours 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 home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players 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 strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.