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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.