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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

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

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals 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 Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.