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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.