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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good 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 great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other 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 work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.