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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; 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 welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.