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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.