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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly 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 decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.