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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved 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. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.