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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work 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. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. His happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, 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 moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.