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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. 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 Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division 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 play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.