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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.