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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.