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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the better opportunities always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous 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 tick for Rosenior.