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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals 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 position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.