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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.