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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

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

There was great endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.