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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.