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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.