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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.