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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.