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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

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

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.