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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull 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 great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.