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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players 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," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.