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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started 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 threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving 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 very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.