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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion 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. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.