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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.