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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals 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 Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.