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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. 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 Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice 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. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.