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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. This happy association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim 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 league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.