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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.