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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice 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 strong position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.