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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key 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 situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.