Fast start
Slow starts have cost Crystal Palace of late, with Millwall, Brighton and Liverpool all putting the Eagles under pressure early on that then set a shaky tone for the first half.
There was little danger of this happening against Hartlepool however, with Patrick Vieria's side making quick work of their opposition from three divisions below them in the football pyramid.
Palace took the lead after only four minutes, with centre-back Marc Guehi finding himself all alone in front of the goal after Michael Olise's free-kick picked him out superbly.
The England Under-21 captain made light work of the chance, clinically placing the ball past Ben Killip in the Hartlepool goal with his first touch and making it three goals this season for the defender.
Olise doubled the lead not long after, getting through on goal after a skilful touch put him past Timi Odusina and he buried the ball into Killip's bottom corner with his left foot.
Palace finished the first half with just over 60% of the possession and with eight attempts on goal to Hartlepool's two, putting them well on their way to the fifth round.
Upset avoided
While London rivals West Ham and Chelsea struggled against lower league opposition in Kidderminster Harriers and Plymouth Argyle respectively, Palace had no such misfortune.
Graeme Lee's League Two side put up a good fight in the end, having a handful of chances on Jack Butland's goal and generally giving their travelling army of close to 5,000 supporters the odd moment to cheer about in south London.
The hosts made sure there was to be no big upset by taking a 2-0 lead within 25 minutes and controlling the game from start to finish, with Lee admitting after the full-time whistle it was always going to be a tall order for his side to have come away from the game with a result.
But the 43-year-old also made sure to reflect on what had been a memorable run to the fourth round and applauded the Pools' away fans for making the nearly 600-mile round trip.
"I could have stayed there all night," he said when asked about the players and coaches going over to applaud their fans in the away end at the end of the game.
"The support and the atmosphere, and seeing my family in the front row, seeing them smile, it's why we're in football."
Michael Olise magic again
The FA Cup is quickly becoming Michael Olise's favourite competition as the youngster was once again Palace's best player as they advanced through to the next round.
Against Millwall, Olise first curled the Eagles' opener into the corner of the net from inside the box before setting up Jean-Philippe Mateta to score the winner moments later with a similarly pinpoint ball.
This time around, against Hartlepool, he was once again involved in all of Palace's best passages of play.
It was his free-kick with his left foot that curled into the box and found Marc Guehi unmarked ready to prod home the opener, and every time he got the ball thereafter he looked to make things happen.
His goal came about via good fortune as Hartlepool lost possession in their own half, but his instinctive flick to get past Timi Odusina and decisive finish into Ben Killip's bottom corner was emphatic.
Once again Vieira praised the winger effusively after the game, calling him a "special player", but added there was still a lot he could learn after wasting a handful of chances on goal during the second half.
"The more games he will play will help him to improve," Vieira told reporters at full-time. "There are some tactical elements in the game he needs to understand. The decisions he makes defensively and offensively will make him a better player.
"We want him to be decisive in the last 30 yards and he has the quality to do that. He was really dangerous today and could've scored more today and made better decisions. That will come with more experience and playing more games."
Bigger picture
Following the abusive scenes at Millwall in the last round, it's great that Crystal Palace fans now have a better, more endearing memory of this season's FA Cup story to hold onto.
The love affair with League Two Hartlepool started long before kick-off when Palace promised to subsidise the travel costs of those fans travelling down to London for the game.
On the eve of the match the club then donated £1,000 to the JustGiving page of Hartlepool boss Graeme Lee's wife following her brain cancer diagnosis.
By the time the players took to the field at Selhurst Park the page's target - set at £60,000 - had been smashed by hundreds of Crystal Palace and wider football fans showing their support.
And despite his side losing the tie, Lee told reporters after the game that the memory of the last 24 hours would live with him for the rest of his life.
“What Crystal Palace have done, not only for putting the buses on for the fans to come down but for what they have done for me and my wife is absolutely immense," he said after the game.
"The last time I looked before the game it was about a year's supply of medication for my wide and knowing that is absolutely unbelievable to know that we've got our medication there for another year."
Fans were also reassured in the press conference that the Hartlepool fan who needed medical attention during the game had recovered.
Into the next round
When he was asked on Friday whether Crystal Palace could go all the way and win the FA Cup this season, Patrick Vieira simply responded: "Why not?"
The Frenchman is right - you have to be in it to win it and so far the Eagles are still fighting. Draws against Millwall and now Hartlepool have not been the hardest of tests but you can only beat what is in front of you and Vieira's side have done that.
Palace have a good history in the FA Cup having reached the final as recently as 2016 and another kind draw puts them within touching distance of Wembley yet again.
"It's still a long way but we just have to wait until the draw and see what happens," Vieira said at the end of the game. "We want to give ourselves a good chance of going through this competition."
