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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull 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 ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think 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. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal 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 is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.