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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players 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 very good situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs 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 remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.