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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking 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.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice 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 upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.