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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

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

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.