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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This happy association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities always fell to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.