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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation 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."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.