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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.