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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key 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 league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.