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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice 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 position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. 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 done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.