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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. 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 aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.