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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several key individuals 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 league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.