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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing 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 influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.