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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.