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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted 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 fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted 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 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved 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 upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.