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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted 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 fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

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

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.