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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key 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 strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.