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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key 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 strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.