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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support 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 could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.