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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of 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 position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.