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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," 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 application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several key players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.