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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had 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’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of 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 situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.