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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score 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 Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.