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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out 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 very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.