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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.