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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap 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.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.