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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player 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 first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.