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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, 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 perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

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

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.