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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

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

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.