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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the 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 task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.