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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing 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 instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim 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," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.