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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of 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 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 effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.