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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key 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 Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.