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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.