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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.