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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock 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 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

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

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.