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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions 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 done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.