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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of 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 situation 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 effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.